Heartfelt Friendships
by Luinlothana
Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other’s throat and you suspect your partner’s ex would like to kill you, you don’t mean that literally. Unless your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line
1. Chapter I

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter I

Henry entered the office to see Vicki sitting at her desk leaning over some files. She hadn't seen him yet. He watched her work for a moment until she took off her glasses to massage the bridge of her nose. Using that moment he moved next to her quietly and leaned down to whisper into her ear.

"A lot of work?"

Her heartbeat sped up, giving him a clear indication that he managed to startle her, outwardly however she managed to stay completely calm. One more impressive and very Vicki-like feature.

She put her glasses back on and smiled tiredly at him.

"Is it that visible?" She surveyed her desk which was currently under a siege from various paperwork. "I told Coreen to go home. She didn't seem well for the last few days, must be this weather and that bug that's been going around, and I was left with all the paperwork. Hi, by the way." She added as an afterthought.

"Need a hand with that?" Her eyes lit up with something that could be interpreted as a very quickly herded hopeful look.

"Nah, I'll manage, I think." She said a bit too quickly.

"I never doubted that. But you'd be done much sooner if you let me help."

"Well, I suppose, if you insist..." She trailed off. "Could you sort that stack by dates and label it properly?" She gestured to one side of her desk and a second later was forced to press the files she was working on against the desk as a slight gust of wind suddenly appeared in the room and the stack disappeared in a sudden dark blur.

Vicki blinked a few times trying to establish if Henry really became a blur or if her vision took a sudden plunge and was now playing tricks with her. She got her answer about two minutes later when the stack of papers again appeared in their original location, this time properly ordered.

"All done. Anything else you need?"

It took two tries before she managed to speak.

"Vampire clerk. Secret weapon for the overflowing paperwork. How come I never thought of using you like that before?"

He straightened himself and carefully took on a look of an offended prince.

"We have our servants to see to that kind of matters, Milady. It is our regret that you think so little of us to consider burdening us with such menial tasks." The inflection on the words made Vicki almost automatically think back to her Middle English classes.

She simply rolled her eyes.

"Well, then, Your Grace, if it's not helping me that brought you to my humble office then could you impart what have I done to deserve such honour?"

"We have to confess, Milady, that we have found ourself drawn to you in some inexplicable way. Your presence lights our life with the power on par only with that of the sun, the mighty ruler of the skies."

"So as far as you're concerned I'm bright, hot and deadly? I think I can live with that." Vicki came back to her normal tone earning a chuckle from Henry.

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the office door opening, soon followed by the voice of Vicki's assistant.

"Sorry to interrupt. I know you told me to get some rest but I just needed to find this notebook and the office was the last place it could be." Coreen's monologue was joined by the sound of desk drawers opening as the girl looked for something. "At first I was worried that you might not be in the office but then I thought that you would have told me if you had any major cases and you don't normally leave that early..."

Vicki looked at Henry who suddenly had a worried look on his face. Before she could ask what was wrong she saw his eyes go dark.

"**Coreen, calm down and come in here.**"

Vicki's confusion deepened at such a simple command delivered in his vampiric voice. Sure enough the Goth stepped into the inner office and stood before them.

"**Now go to the sofa and sit down.**" As Coreen obliged, Vicki approached Henry.

"Do you want to tell me what this is about? Or did you just feel like ordering someone around and I'm not very good material for that?"

"Vicki, could you find something to remove her lipstick?" Henry kneeled next to Coreen concern still etched on his face. The fact that he didn't respond to Vicki's bait only served to worry the PI more.

Wetting a tissue with mineral water from her desk she returned to them. She handed it to Henry and looked at him questioningly.

"Thank you. Could you check if she has a fever? It's a bit hard for me to tell accurately."

Resigned to not having an explanation any time soon she placed her hand on her assistant's forehead while Henry removed the girl's burgundy lipstick. It didn't take long for Vicki to realise that the vampire was right for being concerned.

"She's burning up. How did you..." She broke off as she took in the Goth's now unpainted lips being very close to blue.

"**Coreen, lie down now and sleep.**" Another vampire command sounded before Henry switched to his normal tone. "Lord knows you're going to need rest now."

It took less than a minute for the girl to comply. The vampire stroked her hair gently before turning to Vicki.

"_Now _can you tell me what's wrong? Besides her having fever and belonging in bed?"

"Her heart." Henry answered quietly stealing another worried glance at the girl. "I didn't like the way her heartbeat sounded so I called her in here. It seems that the fever might have aggravated her heart condition. Her deoxygenated blood must be mixing with oxygenated blood." He indicated the girl's lips.

"But didn't you say yourself that it was nothing to worry about?" Vicki desperately grabbed the memory.

"In normal conditions that would be correct. In more dire ones however... Like extreme exhaustion, or blood loss, or high fever it could serve to heighten the risk factor." He gently scooped the sleeping girl in his arms. "For now we need to get her to hospital. If my suspicions are correct, we can't help her here."

III

Henry parked next to the hospital and turned to the girl sleeping in the backseat of the jag. He wished he could leave the girl in the bliss of sleep longer but unfortunately if he wanted her medial results to be accurate, and this case really called for accuracy, he couldn't involve any element the doctors would not have been able to classify. Even if such element was just vampire-induced sleep.

"**Wake up, Coreen**." He whispered to the girl and a second later he saw her shift.

The Goth yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"What...? Where are we? What's going on?"

"To answer your first question we are outside the hospital. In my car to be exact." He answered with a smile he carefully schooled on his face.

"Oh. Ok. Why?"

"Because you should probably see a doctor and a hospital is a perfect place to find one."

The girl moved into a sitting position.

"You know, Henry, I don't want to accuse you of overreacting or anything, but it's just a cold. A bad one, alright, but still they will probably get a bit angry if I come into the emergency room for that in the middle of the night."

"Still, I believe we should go in. You are not well. Humour me on this one, alright?"

The girl looked around spotting Vicki on the seat next to him.

"Alright. Henry isn't talking but can _you _tell me what's going on? Because I'm starting to think it's something fishy."

"Nothing fishy is going on, Coreen. But let's put it this way. If Henry suspects something might be wrong and wants you to see a doctor then my guess is, you probably should, if only to be on the safe side."

"Whatever. But if they get mad about it, I'm using you two as respectively human and vampire shields."

"Shields? I believe you'd do better thinking offensive weapons."

"Yeah, right. But seriously, what's wrong?" The girl was clearly frightened now but she would have to be informed one way or another and the least they could do was to ease her into the knowledge. Henry sighed.

"I didn't like the sound of your heart and in view of the fact that you already had a heart murmur I thought it would be better to see if that illness of yours didn't make things worse."

Her heart rate increased and he did his best not to wince at the additional sounds it was making.

"Do you think it did?"

"Coreen, I may be a vampire but I'm not a cardiologist. Just because I have the ability to hear certain things doesn't mean I'm qualified to make a diagnosis. If I was, I wouldn't have brought you here."

The girl let out a resigned sigh.

"You know what, Vicki? You should have said something about how the health benefits were going to look like when I was taking the job. I might have reconsidered."

"All the better that I did not. Where would I find another assistant like you? Besides. I did tell you, there were no benefits then. Didn't you read the memo about the changes in the contract?"

"Memo. Right. I think I didn't get enough sleep for that."

"Tell you what. The sooner we go inside and let a doctor have a look at you the better the chance that you'll still be able to go back to sleep tonight."

"Since you put it like that."

"I knew you'd see the light. Shall we?"

"Whatever."

"Careful. Don't overdo the enthusiasm."

In Henry's opinion the only thing that kept the girl from noticing just how worried they both were was the darkness of the night which veiled everything including the details of their expressions.

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	2. Chapter II

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter II

Practically as soon as they entered the hospital Coreen was swept away for examinations and tests as her appearance apparently drew the attention of the doctors. It seemed it was going to take some time so they settled in the chairs near the reception desk, waiting. Finally a doctor – a man somewhere in his forties asked for them.

"Miss Fennel insists to have you there for the diagnosis. Please, follow me." The doctor looked likable enough but despite the air of cheerfulness he apparently tried to project he seemed concerned about something. Which wasn't exactly a good sign. They nodded in acknowledgement and followed him.

He led them to a hospital room where Coreen was sitting on the edge of a bed. She looked up as they entered.

"Thanks for coming. I didn't want to hear it alone. I'm freaked out enough by all the testing they did." She scooted over to give them a place to sit as well.

"Coreen, you don't need to thank us. If it was allowed, neither of us would have left your side the entire time." Henry said courtly, earning a small smile from the girl, who then focussed on the doctor.

"So what's the verdict?" She tried for a carefree tone but failed, unable to keep a slight tremble out of her voice.

The doctor took a preparatory breath which, in Vicki's opinion didn't bode well.

"Miss Fennel… May I call you Coreen?"

"Sure."

"Well then, Coreen, I'm sure you knew you had a slight heart murmur before."

"Yeah. I was born with it. Why?"

"It was caused by a small leak between the ventricles of your heart. We call that a ventricular septal defect. It wasn't a significant one and in most cases such leakages close by themselves as you age."

"But mine didn't."

"Yours didn't. Still, it wasn't dangerous before."

"Before?"

"You seem to have caught the flu recently. Not, from what I see, a serious strain but it put a greater strain on your heart, and eventually led to the leak growing. Which is the beginning of what you might call a chain reaction."

"That doesn't sound good." The girl was doing her best to appear unaffected by the news. "What do you mean by that?"

"The leak being situated in the upper part of the wall separating your ventricles led in turn to aortic valve regurgitation which involves the backflow of blood from the aorta into the ventricles of the heart due to a valve defect."

"So what does this mean for me?"

"As I said, there are two things wrong with your heart right now but that's it. We should be able to correct both with a surgery."

"Should? What exactly are my chances?"

"Statistically ninety five percent of the patients survive the operation at this stage. You were incredibly lucky it was caught so quickly. The next stage of the chain reaction I mentioned would be pulmonary hypertension, which would, depending on its level push the fatality rate to somewhere between fifteen and thirty percent."

"And if I don't go into surgery?" Coreen's voice grew even shakier.

"Then, one side of your heart will start growing disproportionably because of different tension on each side, you will be even more prone to pneumonia, which will weaken your body until you have heart failure. Of course even at the last stage you would have a chance if a donor for a heart transplant was found…" The doctor explained calmly.

Vicki saw her assistant was beyond pale now. She reached for the girl's hand and held it reassuringly. For a moment their eyes met and she caught a glimpse of how scared the girl was. Then Coreen seemed to gather some inner strength and addressed the doctor again.

"What will happen during the operation?"

"Well, first of all, if you decide to go through with it, you'll be given medicine to combat the flu completely. Only then we'll be able to operate on you. As to the procedure itself – first of all, you'll be hooked to CPB. That's short for cardiopulmonary bypass or, as you may know it, a heart-lung machine. It will perform the job of your heart for the time of the surgery. It's going to cool your blood, and dilute it because the cooler it is, the higher viscosity it has, which in turn will cool your body down to 18-22 degrees Celsius. That will work to lower the blood flow until it stops completely. We will access your heart via median sternotomy. Then we should be able to correct the valve by folding lengthened valve cusps. If that's impossible we may need to implant an artificial valve. And we will close the opening between ventricles with a patch of a sort. It's usually made of Dakron or Teflon."

"Teflon? Isn't that what they use to make frying pans?" Coreen tried to smile.

"Yes. And what was used as a coating material in the Manhattan Project. And before you ask, Dakron is used to make bottles and as the coating for space stations." The doctor did a much better job smiling, no doubt thanks to long experience with having such talks with patients.

"Talk about multiple applications, huh?" The girl sighed. "If I go through with it, do I have a chance of being normal eventually?"

"If the surgery is successful and given proper rehabilitation afterwards, yes"

"Then I'll do it." Coreen said firmly. "Is there something I need to sign first?"

"As a matter of fact it would be best if you did. And if you changed into a hospital gown. The sooner we do the surgery the better your chances, so you're admitted as of right now."

Determination shone on the girl's face.

"Just show me where to sign."

III

They left the room to give Coreen a bit of privacy when she changed into the gown. Once the door closed behind them Vicki waited only a few steps before stepping in the doctor's way.

"You will do whatever it takes to help her, right?"

"As far as saving her life goes – of course. The surgery itself falls into that category. But, while I hate to bring up this matter, it will stretch the limits of the universal health care plan. So I'm afraid that when it comes to the costs of her later recovery…"

"How much would those be?" Vicki asked quickly and felt her knees grow weaker upon being quoted a sum she could never pay herself. "I assume we are talking the no frills version here?"

"Yes. To be honest it already is going to take no small negotiations to justify the procedure at such an early stage. They might argue that since her life isn't in an immediate danger yet there are no grounds for it. I'm not sure they will be willing to pay any more than absolutely necessary for her recovery."

"I see…" Vicki started to say before Henry cut in.

"What about her supplemental insurance?"

She looked at him dumbfounded, wondering what he was talking about.

"I was not aware that Miss Fennel had a supplemental insurance." She heard the doctor say while she was desperately trying to force the conversation to start making sense again in her mind.

"I believe she does. If you'd give me a moment I'll call the company and see if I can get the insurance number."

The doctor nodded and Vicki was dimly aware that she was staring at Henry with more disbelief than the time when he told her what he was for the first time. In the meantime the vampire had indeed called somewhere and scribbled something on a piece of paper she could only assume was torn out of his sketchbook. A few minutes later he was back.

"I believe you will find all the necessary data here, doctor." He smiled one of his smiles which instantly had people wrapped around his little finger without even needing to resort to his persuasion. "I trust there won't be any more monetary problems. After all, Coreen's health is a priority."

"Of course. I'll try to clear this with the administration as soon as possible."

"Thank you, doctor."

Vicki waited a few seconds until the doctor was out of hearing range. Then she looked at Henry with a lifted eyebrow.

"_Supplemental insurance_?"

"Knowing that Coreen spent as little as she could on her health and that you are better by only a small infraction I decided to take steps to have you secured if something ever happened."

"So you bought us, _both_ of us a supplemental insurance? I can't believe you! That's no longer overprotectiveness. That's implying we can't take care of ourselves! And I, for one, don't take charity."

"Please, don't deny me the right to be concerned. I knew you wouldn't have agreed otherwise but I wanted you safe just in case. I assure you, I'm no poorer because of it and I hope you agree that it will prove useful in the end."

"Alright, I will admit that. Don't think this conversation is over though. It's just postponed for the time being." She paused and frowned. "Didn't you need our signatures to do that though?"

He smirked. "Theoretically. Just like, in theory, my ID probably shouldn't indicate I'm twenty four. In both cases being an artist comes in handy."

"You…" She was speechless for a second. "You know, never mind. Let's go back to Coreen, shall we?"

III

When they re-entered the room, Coreen was already sitting in the bed, dressed in the gown. After being given oxygen her colour probably would have been more normal if it wasn't for the pale shade her face had taken, no longer staying white and already bordering on grey. Her hands were shaking as she was playing with the edge of the pillow. She looked up when they entered.

"Hey." She acknowledged weakly.

"Hey yourself. How are you taking this all?" Vicki asked while coming to sit on the edge of bed.

"I'm fine. I mean everything is under control now, right? I…" The girl sniffed.

"Coreen, you should know by now that I'm the one who does the playing tough for both of us already and I have a lot more experience with it, so give it up, alright? It's not good for you."

The Goth nodded. "It's just so strange. A few hours ago everything was fine. I had nothing to worry about. I… thought I was just feeling awful because of the cold. And now…"

"You will be fine again, Coreen, you'll see. Ok, I may be forced to give you a bit more sick leave than I actually intended but before you know it you'll be just viewing it as another memory, nothing more."

"Not really. And I still might not make it through the surgery. I know the doctor said my chances are good. And the risk is only five percent but that still means that in every hundred people having the operation five of them…"

"You aren't going to be one of those five, Coreen."

"Probably that's what they thought. Otherwise why would they agree?"

"How do I know? Because they figured they didn't have anything to lose? But you'll be fine, Coreen."

"Good thing one of us is certain." The girl looked up and Vicki saw tears glittering in her eyes. "I'm scared you know. More than I ever was. And when I think it could be even worse…" She focused on Henry. "I guess I owe you thanks."

"You don't need to thank me, Coreen. But if you insist on it, the only form I will take it in is a promise you will do your best to get better."

The Goth sniffed. "I'm not sure how much say I have in the matter but I can promise if you like." She went silent for a moment and when she looked at the vampire again so much vulnerability shone in her eyes that she resembled a scared child. "Henry… I know it's a stupid question but… Does it hurt when your heart stops?" She asked quietly, averting her gaze as soon as she voiced the question.

The vampire stepped closer and stroked the girl's hand gently.

"I can't say it's a very pleasant sensation but no, it doesn't hurt. I doubt you will feel any of that though."

III

After a while Coreen started drifting to sleep and Vicki felt that somehow the situation was no longer so overwhelming to the point of being unbearable. Instead it turned into one more thing they had to, and would, deal with. The feeling was largely superficial though, as every time she tried to sort the idea out in her head she found she was landing right where she started.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the realisation that the Goth seemed to have pushed the sleepiness away for a moment and was now looking at them with wide eyes.

"My parents." The girl whispered with a shaky undertone in her voice. "I need to call my parents to tell them."

Vicki felt she could have kicked herself right then for not thinking of that sooner or, more importantly, taking steps to do something about the matter and spare her assistant worry.

"I can call them for you if you like." She offered.

"You don't understand. It won't be so easy. My mother stopped talking to me once I told her I dropped out of college. Said I was an irresponsible brat and that wasn't how she brought me up."

"So I guess it would be easier to start with your father?"

"Good luck with that. When he called to check if the money for my birthday present went through last month, which he tried to disguise as best wishes, he was still living on Bahamas with his former co-worker named Fred. You get him and my mother in one room and you'll have a re-enactment of the Great War."

"Then which one of them would you like to have here?"

"I doubt my father would even be willing to come. I haven't seen him in person for nine years. If he wasn't calling and sending photos every once in a while I'd have forgotten I had a father at all."

"Trust me, that's not so easy. I would know, I tried. How about I call him and see where that would get me and get your mother here all the same?"

"She won't come. She isn't talking to me. She won't care."

"Well, no matter what you say I think she will. And somehow I have a feeling that we may find a way to keep your parents from killing one another." She looked at her vampire partner. "As long as we _all _make an effort in that direction."

Henry sent her a mischievous smile that obviously wasn't lost to Coreen as she heard the girl mutter "That's gonna be something to see."

"Now that's the spirit. I'll call your parents in the morning as soon as the hour is remotely socially acceptable."

"Vicki… if you don't mind… could you stay with me tomorrow, erm... today? I don't really want to be alone."

"Well, I will probably need to leave for a moment at some point to leave the information that the business is going to be closed for a couple of days anyway but other than that, no problem. If you are sure you want me here all the time."

"Yeah. Maybe if you could call later from here?"

"They are kind of frowning at the use of cells around all that sensitive equipment, you know. But I'll think of something. In the worst case there must be a payphone here somewhere."

The girl made a face but didn't comment.

"And aside from that I guarantee you are gonna be sick of my presence before long and will be_ searching _for excuses to get rid of me if only for some time."

That seemed to work as Coreen smiled a bit at her comment.

Vicki could only hope she would manage to keep the confident façade for a long as it was needed.

It wasn't long before the girl finally fell asleep, allowing her to drop the act for a moment. Taking advantage of the fact that Henry hadn't left yet, she stepped closed to him, half-aware of the fact that her action came dangerously close to seeking comfort.

A moment later she found herself in his embrace as he responded to her not even fully realised feelings.

III

Vicki just finished recording a message when she heard a knock on the doorframe. Looking up she saw Mike standing in the entrance.

"Hi, Vic. What have you been up to? I've been trying to reach you since this morning."

"Have you?" For the first time in her life Vicki had a feeling that she was actually too tired for banter with Mike.

"Yeah. You wouldn't believe how much easier your life can be when you keep your cell on sometimes. Where were you?"

She took out her cell and glanced at it.

"Must have forgotten to turn it on after leaving the hospital."

"And what the hell were you doing in hospital?"

"Keeping Coreen company."

"Coreen? What has the girl gotten herself into?"

"Cardiac surgery, apparently. I was staying with her but eventually I needed to come and record the information that the business is closed for a few days."

"Wait a sec. Did I hear cardiac surgery?"

"Yeah." She sat heavily. "She is stabilised and going into surgery as soon as the anaesthesiologist okays it. Well, a bit after they do. She needs to have her stomach empty for the general anaesthesia..."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She had some insignificant heart anomaly which she was born with. When she got sick recently it triggered something. If Henry hadn't heard that something was wrong, her heart could have given out, according to what the doctor said. The part about her heart, not about Henry, obviously."

"Who would have thought? It seems that our little prince finally did something useful."

"It's great to know that you don't consider saving my life useful, Mike." She met his eyes. "Don't start with me right now. My friend is about to have open heart surgery. I don't care how thick headed you are but you could have at least shown some concern."

"I'm worried about her too, Vic. But she is young, otherwise healthy. She'll be fine, you'll see."

"So you say." She glanced at her watch. "But I should be going, I promised Coreen I wouldn't be long."

"You need a ride?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Mike."

"Hey, what friends are for, right?"

III

Taking advantage of Mike's presence, Vicki left the room leaving Coreen in the detective's company and went to find a phone.

Calling Coreen's parents was awkward. Or, as it turned out in the case of the girl's mother, started that way and only went worse from there. After hearing what the woman thought of people who ruined futures of unsuspecting girls by tricking them to abandon their education and by extension ruining their perspectives, Vicki had a strange feeling that a few more minutes and even Astaroth would be ashamed of having whatever link to her. That, or extremely proud.

In the end though, the woman did let her say what the problem was and said, in a manner that most likely was supposed to be menacing, that she was going to come. The objective achieved, the PI could only hope the woman would be too busy trying to give her a hard time to keep Coreen on her radar in that aspect. After all, the girl needed peace now.

It would have been nice if she could say things went easier with Coreen's father. But while on one hand he expressed his concern about his 'little princess' and 'sweet little angel' (which brought Vicki to the edge of quizzing the man about the girl's age), he also refused to fly to Toronto, stating that other important matters were keeping him home. What matters he perceived more important than his daughter's health, he refused to disclose.

Duty done, Vicki went to cafeteria to buy herself something to eat and some coffee before returning to Coreen's room.

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	3. Chapter III

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter III

When she came to see Coreen the next day, Vicki could hear a woman's voice coming from the girl's room.

"What I'm saying is that this is just a typical display of your irresponsibility. You never had these kinds of problems when you stayed under my care and listened to my advice."

"I was born with that condition, Mom. I guess that covers being under your care as well."

"Don't talk back to me like that, Coreen Eleanor!"

Vicki lifted an eyebrow at that and decided to enter the room. A middle-aged woman was next to Coreen's bed. Her hair was dyed the brightest shade of red the PI imagined possible and her makeup wouldn't be out of place in a nightclub.

Containing a grimace and telling herself that her time as a cop taught her not to trust first impressions, she forced a smile to her face.

"Hi. You must be Mrs. Fennel. We talked on the phone. I'm Vicki Nelson."

"Are you?" If she was still alive, Medusa could probably sue the woman for using a trademarked look. "And it's Ms. Fergus. Mrs. Fennel was the naive idiot whose husband, years into the marriage said he actually preferred men and who was left taking care of his child."

"Okay, my biology might not be all that impressive but up until now I thought that it actually took two people to make a baby. So perhaps try to remember..."

"Vicki, no, it's alright." She heard Coreen speak in a tired tone. She shifted her eyes to the girl only to get an impression that the girl was actually ashamed.

"No, Coreen. It's not alright. When your mother acts like that, it's not alright."

"I will have you remember, _Miss Nelson,_" never before did the PI expect that her name could actually sound like a swearword, "that I am still in the room."

"I thought that was an accepted standard for you."

"Don't assume you can understand any of that. How could you understand what it costs you to raise a child after your husband left you? I should be blessed for everything I did." To Vicki's dismay she actually accented that with a dramatic expression.

"Well, guess what, I know a lot about it. Most of that from watching my own mother. Only she actually stayed sane throughout the process!"

The other woman inhaled sharply and started growing red in the face. Vicki glared in return.

That was when the door opened and a nurse walked in, looking at them with strangely glazed eyes. Her expression grew more natural soon enough though.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Fennel? I need to ask you some questions about Miss Fennel's earlier health record."

"Yes?"

"Actually, there are quite a few of them. If you'd come with me..."

"The level of incompetence seen in hospitals is amazing. Couldn't you have brought whatever you needed with you?"

"I'm afraid it wasn't possible."

"That's usually the thing to say if you aren't trying hard enough. Very well, I will go with you. But if it wasn't about my child I would have told you what I think about it all."

The nurse nodded and left the room with Coreen's mother following soon after.

The door didn't even have time to close properly before a shadow breezed through it and all of a sudden Henry was leaning against the wall, watching the two women in the room.

"I had a feeling that someone might have vamped the nurse. What's the matter? Didn't feel like saying hello to Coreen's mother?"

"As a point of fact, I was trying to separate the two of you to avoid bloodshed and did my best to do that in the least suspicious way possible."

"Avoid bloodshed, huh?"

"Haven't you ever heard that it's a sin to waste food?"

"I'm not getting into that. What made you think I couldn't handle this on my own without fatalities?"

"I've known you for more than a day, you know."

"Very funny."

He smirked but didn't reply. Instead he turned to the Goth.

"How are you feeling today, Coreen?"

"Not particularly different than I did yesterday. Though my flu seems to be almost gone so I suspect any day now they will tell me that... Anyway, at least I had some entertainment today when Vicki butted heads with my mother."

"Hey, I did not...'

The vampire actually had the audacity to laugh at that.

"We have the statement of a third-party witness to go with what I heard before. I'm afraid your case looks quite weak at the moment, Victoria."

"Ha ha. And incidentally, how much time did you buy us anyway before Coreen's mommy dearest comes back?"

"How long do you think it will take her to answer about two hundred specific medical questions?"

"Less than it should?"

"That's one of the options. I hope she didn't upset you too much, Coreen?"

"By what, being her usual self? I had a few years to get used to that, you know. I just tune all that out now."

"Well," Vicki cut in, "you shouldn't have to put up with that. Honestly..."

"Hey, just ignore her. I do. You two had better tell me what's going on beyond these four walls. I have counted every spot on each wall already and I need something else to occupy my time."

"Alright. If you promise to tell us as soon as you start getting tired."

"Deal."

In the end, when the Goth's mother reappeared it was only to tell the girl she was returning to her hotel. She didn't give any indication of noticing people present in the room.

III

For the next few days Vicki made a point of studiously avoiding Coreen's mother. The few times they met each other they exchanged glares, sometimes coloured by a few words of choice.

Not that avoiding the woman was a particularly hard task, given that she appeared perhaps once a day and not for very long, as if only checking that her daughter was still alive.

After yet another short face to face with Coreen's parent, Vicki entered her assistant's room radiating with irritation.

"It's great to see you too, Vicki." Coreen quipped before the PI had a chance to utter a word.

"Honestly. Are you sure that woman is your mother?"

"Wasn't there a saying that the mother is always certain?"

"Well, you haven't by any chance become a Goth in hopes of finding a vampire to help you deal with your mother once and for all? Because I'm sure it could be arranged."

"From what I saw Henry is too busy making sure _you_ don't make me a half-orphan to even consider that. I told you, it's best to just ignore her most of the time." The girl sighed. "Though I sometimes wish she would at least pay enough attention to me to stay a bit longer."

"Okay, what brought that on?"

"My doctor said that provided today's tests come back alright as well, I'm clear to go to the surgery tomorrow."

"Oh." Somehow it seemed too quick for Vicki and she desperately wanted to protest that perhaps it would be better if they waited just a little bit more, that perhaps Coreen's condition would miraculously repair itself and there would be no need for surgical intervention. A small but surprisingly insistent part of her mind, otherwise known as common sense prevented her from voicing that.

"Yeah, I thought I got used to the thought as well, until he told me. But I guess it's the only way."

"It seems to be, yeah."

There was a long silence.

"I'm scared you know." The Goth finally admitted quietly.

"Do you want me to stay with you and keep you company?"

"Would you?"

"Sure."

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	4. Chapter IV

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter IV

She saw Henry approach her. His being here had to mean some time had passed but she wouldn't be able to say when exactly that happened.

"Hey." She said in a voice that wasn't really inspiring much optimism and saw Henry frown.

"Good evening, Vicki. Is Coreen all right?"

"That's what the doctors say. They wouldn't let me see her. Because I'm not her _family_. Honestly, Coreen is like a family to me… My unofficial little sister of sorts. And seeing how her mother is, we probably make a better family than her relatives but does anyone care about that? No, of course not…" Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She looked up. "But _you_ could go see how she is. They wouldn't notice you if you didn't want them to."

"I think I can do better than that. Where is she?"

"ICU. That's supposedly normal after operations like this. Unless they were just saying that..."

"Vicki, calm down. And come with me."

With a confident stride he led her to the elevator. A moment later they were already approaching the door of the Intensive Care Unit. A nurse stepped to them apparently wanting to say something.

"We are here to see Coreen Fennel. Where can we find her?" Henry asked quickly putting the plump woman off balance.

"Are you the family?"

"Not exactly."

"In that case I'm afraid I can't let you in."

Henry's eyes were black before she even finished speaking.

"**You will recognise us as the closest people she has and will let us in. In the future you will never make any problems for either of us and will ensure the rest of the staff working here shares your views.**" He waited for a second, presumably to let the message sink in. "I hope you realise that this is an exceptional situation."

The woman's eyes focussed again.

"Yes, you are so close with the girl, I suppose an exception could be made. Follow me."

Vicki looked at the vampire who smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her back as they walked. Perhaps it wasn't much but the comfort his gesture provided surprised her.

III

When they entered Coreen's room the girl was lying on a bed, unmoving, hooked to various machines that made sounds straight out of early science fiction movies. She was pale and surrounded by various equipment she looked even more petite then she was in reality. Her chest was bandaged and fresh blood saturated the bandages that covered the place where her chest was sewn back together by metal stitches. Vicki couldn't imagine seeing the girl any more fragile.

She glanced at Henry who was standing next to her. He noticed her gaze.

"Her heart sounds better. The sound is still off, which I can only assume is the result of the procedure but after a while it should work well enough." He informed in a whisper.

Truth be told, a whisper was the only tone Vicki imagined appropriate in the situation as well.

"She just looks so… helpless. Fragile. I thought she did before the operation but that had nothing on the way she is now."

"She will get stronger." He approached the girl lying in the bed and tenderly took her hand. "Hello, Coreen. I'm glad to know everything went well. I hope you remember that promise you gave me about getting better. Because you have some recovery before you. Get all the rest you can now, you will need it later."

"You will scare the girl, Henry."

"I'm sure she already knew she would have a recovery ahead of her."

"Do you think she can hear you?"

"She might. Normally I would judge that by the heart rate but under the circumstances my guess is as good as yours."

"Think it would help if you spoke in that voice of yours?"

"Depends on what you understand by help. If she was visibly disquieted by anything, it would probably help but most people remain unaware of my exact words even if they are conscious so when it comes to talking to her like that, it would be useless."

"Too bad." She sighed. "You know, I thought that seeing her would make me calmer somehow. I don't know what I expected. To see her sitting in the bed chatting with the nurses? I knew this was a serious procedure. But still seeing her like that…"

"I know." She felt his embrace and without even fully realising what she was doing she leaned into it. "I know. But give it some time. She will get better. The worst part is over now."

"I guess that's the one comforting thing in it all. I wish there were more."

III

They had sat there for a while before Coreen's eyelids started fluttering. A moment later the girl opened her eyes.

"Welcome back to the world of living, Coreen."

Vicki saw the Goth smile faintly.

"Hi, Vicki, Henry." Her whisper was barely audible, but clearly the girl was conscious.

"How are you feeling, Coreen?" The PI heard the vampire ask.

The girl seemed to consider that.

"Odd. Is my whole body supposed to be tingling?"

"It's probably the effect of painkillers in your system or after-effect of anaesthesia."

"Oh."

"Rest now, Coreen." Henry spoke gently to the girl.

"You know, cliché as it may sound… I feel as if my chest was torn open. Painkillers or not."

"Henry is right, Coreen. Rest, don't talk." Shocking even herself, Vicki stroked her assistant's hair as if the girl was a small child. "We'll stay here with you. You're past the worst now so just concentrate on recovering, okay?"

The faint smile again graced the Goth's lips before her whole expression turned to a grateful one. It seemed her eyelids started getting heavy soon after.

III

Coreen woke up to see her mother next to her bed. She tried to smile at the older woman.

"Hi, Mom."

"Oh, you're awake. I'm surprised they let you sleep so much. Maybe if you spent more time working on your rehabilitation, you'd be able to sit without being supported by pillows and using the remote to your bed."

"It's only been a short time, Mom." She looked around hoping for some distraction to change the topic. She saw one in the form of something on the bedside table. "What's that?"

"This? A comic book. Some friend of yours must have left it for you." The woman lifted the item with an unhidden disgust. "I should have known that with the company you keep now a normal book instead of something intended for analphabets would be out of question…"

"A comic book?" Coreen interrupted. "Let me see!"

"Suit yourself. I never thought my daughter would one day…"

At that point the girl tuned her out, looking at the book in her hands. The name on the cover left little doubt as to who might have left it for her. She opened the book and stilled when on the first page she found a short inscription.

'_With a special dedication to my friend Coreen, with wishes of quick recovery._'

She blinked but the words were still there. She felt her head spin.

"How many copies of this are there?" She voiced not really expecting an answer.

Despite that, one came anyway, in the form of a chuckle from the direction of the door.

"Last time I checked, the figure was something around seven hundred thousand." She looked up to see the vampire smiling at her. "You like it, I take it?"

"Wow. This is… wow. Thank you, Henry. Just thank you. When did you leave it?"

"Last night. You were already sleeping. I'm glad I managed to hear your reaction all the same."

Coreen started opening her mouth to reply when her mother interrupted.

"And just what were you doing at night in my daughter's room?"

"Night is a flexible term, Ms. Fergus. One could argue, for example, that it has already fallen now. As to what I was doing, I believe I already stated that I left the graphic novel for Coreen."

"Is that so? I don't want your lot around my daughter. She is supposed…"

Coreen closed her eyes in shame, taking comfort only in the fact that Henry actually looked amused rather than insulted by the situation. Of course, on some abstract level, the fact that her mother was actually addressing a king's son in such a manner probably _was _amusing. But at the moment she found it extremely hard to reach that level of abstraction.

"Mom, please…" She started but the woman cut her off.

"I don't want to hear that, Coreen. I won't stand by while you ruin your life. It was probably your careless lifestyle and whatever drugs your _friends_ introduced you to that caused you to land in cardiology in the first place."

Coreen stared at her mother and felt as if something inside her broke.

"You are wrong, Mom. I am not ruining my life. And I'm, in case you haven't noticed, already a grown up. I don't need you to run my life for me and to judge me constantly." With a great effort she managed to keep her chin from shaking. "I don't think we have any more to say to each other, Mom. Please leave and go back home. I will need peace to heal properly."

The silence that fell was only interrupted by the beeping and quiet hum of medical equipment. Finally the older woman spoke.

"If that's what you want for yourself, Coreen. I never thought I would be this disappointed by my own daughter. As of this moment you are dead to me. As far as I'm concerned I have no child." She said coolly before turning on her heel and leaving the room without another word.

Only when she left, Coreen felt hot tears running down her cheeks. She didn't even notice Henry had come closer until she felt him take her hand.

"I'm sorry for being the cause of this, Coreen. It was never my intention to create a rift between you and your mother."

"No," she whispered gasping, "it was coming for a long time. This was just a catalyst. In a way… it actually is liberating. I just wish it didn't hurt so much."

She felt him stroking her cheeks gently, presumably wiping away her tears.

"It will get better. And once your mother calms down and has time to think about what you said, things may actually improve between you."

"Well, at that point it would probably be hard for them to get worse. I'm just sorry you had to see that."

He smiled at her. "No need to trouble yourself with that. And remember that your mother loves you. All the things she says and does are stemming from her concern."

"Or from wanting to take my father's leaving out on me. I can't even count the number of times she compared me to him."

"Don't think about this right now, Coreen. Being upset will hardly aid your recovery."

"Easier said than done."

"Do you want me to send you to sleep then? Give you a chance to calm down?"

She sniffed. "Would you?"

"If you only want me to, of course. Please, look at me." She met the familiar black eyes. "**Go to sleep, Coreen. Don't let anything trouble you. Have peaceful dreams.**"

The girl blinked twice and surrendered to the sleepiness that came over her. The vampire looked at her for a while, stroking her hand before quietly rising and leaving the room while taking out his cell.

III

Vicki entered the hospital in a manner that instantly made him think of an anthropomorphic tornado. Without a shadow of hesitation she made her way to him.

"What is it, Henry?" It seemed she wasn't in mood for any conventional greeting. "You ask me to come here as soon as possible, how did you think I'd react to it? What happened? Is Coreen…?"

"I told you, Coreen is fine, at least physically. I sent her to sleep twenty minutes ago."

"Because of…? You know, the vamping Coreen act is getting rather old by now."

"Vicki. This is serious. I'm worried about her."

"That's nice. Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"Forgive me. Of course. She had a falling out with her mother for which I'm afraid I carry a partial responsibility." She gestured him to continue. "Allow me to summarise the story for you."

In the end it didn't take long to relay the story to the PI. Having already met Coreen's mother the former detective didn't seem overly surprised by the chain of events even if she was obviously sorry for her assistant.

When he finished she looked at him for a while.

"How serious did it sound, honestly? You were the neutral party there so…"

"To be honest, it didn't sound good. They were both agitated, to the point that I was seriously considering showing the woman out because it was beginning to look like she might be a threat to Coreen's health." It didn't escape his notice that Vicki winced at that.

"So no real chance of this just being some misunderstanding that can be easily resolved."

"Not really, no."

"So…" Vicki's eyes unfocussed for a moment as she mulled over some options in her head. Then she looked sharply at him. "That voice thing of yours. How well does it work over the phone?"

He sensed one of the patent Vicki Nelson ideas, the ones that should come with several warnings, but decided to answer all the same.

"Not as well as it does when I'm face to face with a person but it does work to a certain extent. Why do you ask?"

"Because you are going with me to make a call to Bahamas." He lifted his eyebrow. "Come on, Henry. I won't have Coreen thinking that her parents don't care about her. If her mother decided to throw a fit then let's hope you can at least get her father to behave like a decent human being. No offence meant."

Shaking his head was all he could do to avoid showing any disbelief at the woman. A feeling that seemed to appear more often proportionately to him knowing her better.

III

She was standing impatiently in the corridor as Henry talked with Coreen's father. He had frowned a few times already in the course of the conversation. But since the one-sided discussion was further clouded by the sounds of a hospital corridor, she couldn't guess how the process was going.

When Henry finally ended the call she looked at him expectantly, silently envying the vampire's ability to effortlessly listen to both sides of any phone conversation.

"Well?"

"It was surprisingly easy. After what you said before I was expecting more of a resistance."

"So I'm hopeless in diplomacy too. Gee, that's just what I needed to hear."

"While I might be forced to admit that of the two of us, you are the one to never have received a single lesson on the subject…" She threw him a glare. "You aren't hopeless, Vicki, and you should know that without anybody telling you that. And if it really was that easy you wouldn't have any problems, diplomatic skills notwithstanding."

"Ok, I give. Where _did_ I go wrong?"

"As far as I can tell, you didn't. I _did _need to use my skills to finally convince him. Where the problem was is what was unexpected."

"Uh huh. Details"

"What I needed to do wasn't so much convincing him that he wanted to see his daughter but that his daughter didn't resent him for leaving and would want to see him. Apparently when she was younger he made a few attempts to play a bigger role in Coreen's life but every time his ex-wife informed him that Coreen didn't want to speak with him and hated him for what he did. Once they resumed occasional phone contact he considered it a truce and was too afraid of losing that to ask for more."

"So Coreen's mum, huh? Why am I not surprised?"

"She is a bitter woman now, Vicki, but she didn't have an easy life either and her husband's leaving hurt her deeply."

"Be so kind and don't make excuses for her. Everybody gets kicked in the teeth by life from time to time. She couldn't deal with it? Well, that's her problem. But she hurt Coreen so if that's all the same to you, I will stick to my particularism."

"I never suggested that you couldn't. I simply tried to make you see that it's not exactly a black-and-white case."

"Coreen suffered. Her mother was responsible. That's all I need to know."

"Did you approach cases you worked in the same manner when you were still on the force?"

"That's beside the point."

"She does love her child in her own way."

"So did Magda Goebbels. In her own way."

Henry looked ready to argue for a moment. Then he sighed.

"In any case, Coreen's father is going to call her soon and we'll see how things develop from there."

"Good. Now let's go see Coreen, shall we?"

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	5. Chapter V

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter V

Henry entered Coreen's room to find the girl sitting on the edge of her bed, clad in a black bathrobe featuring white cat outlines. She was talking animatedly to Vicki. He took an advantage of the fact that she stopped to take a breath.

"Good evening, ladies. It's good to see you up and about again, Coreen."

The Goth grinned.

"Hey, Henry. And it would be even better if they didn't tell me I have to wear this corset now for God knows how long."

"Believe it or not, Coreen, but I knew _quite a few _girls who wore corsets willingly and without any medical reasoning. I'm sure you'll survive a couple of months."

"Well, it beats lying motionless any longer. Guess what? I'm going to the Bahamas!"

"Now?" He lifted an eyebrow and completed the effect by pointedly looking at her attire.

The Goth laughed. "Actually, in about two weeks when the doctors say I will be able to travel by plane. My father got me a place in a sanatorium there. So I will be recovering and Dad promised to visit me as often as he can. Isn't that great?"

"I'm happy for you, Coreen. I assume your relations with your father somewhat improved then?"

"Yeah. I think this whole thing with me in hospital scared him into making an action."

He looked at the girl's smile before sending Vicki a searching glance. Their eyes met and they reached a silent understanding. The most important thing was that Coreen was happy.

III

When Henry entered Vicki's office the PI was engrossed in the newspaper. She was narrowing her eyes ever-so-slightly, apparently unwilling to take off her glasses and make the reading easier. She didn't seem to notice him.

"Something interesting?" He asked, coming to stand next to her chair.

She looked up. "Not really. But the office seems oddly empty without Coreen. With the exception of two of my clients I didn't have anyone to open my mouth to the whole day. I'm pretty sure it wasn't that bad before I hired her."

"It's easy to get used to improvement."

"Apparently. Funny how I never considered a babbling Goth assistant an actual improvement."

"I'm sure she will be glad to be more appreciated when she's back."

"Don't you dare breathe a word."

"You devotion to cultivating relationships with people around you is truly astounding. By the way, from what Greg told me on my way out, it was unusually warm today. A fact I can easily believe seeing how even the night seems exceptionally warm for this time of a year."

"Possibly. What of it?"

"Aren't you a bit warm, dressed like this?"

"If this is an attempt to convince me into a striptease session you'd better give it up before I'm tempted to go find a stake."

"Nothing of the kind. But I can't even recall the last time I didn't see you wear a turtleneck. I'm beginning to think this is a not-so-subtle message to myself."

"What? Henry, you should know me better than that."

"Should I? Then pray tell me how should I take your insistent choice of such attire. Because I fear I can no longer attribute it to chance."

"Well, if you really must know, it's not. But it doesn't mean it has to automatically be a dab at any vampire I may happen to know."

"Would it be too much to inquire about the reason then?"

"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out, really. As I said, I'm not trying to send any message here. I just can't stand looking at my reflection otherwise."

"And why would that be?"

"Really. I would have thought you'd still remember what kind of souvenir I got from Perkins." She sighed and tugged at her turtleneck, revealing a scar running along her throat. "I may not be the vain type but I don't like to be reminded how uglified I had become as a result of that encounter every time I look in the mirror."

"You weren't. You aren't. You remain one of the most beautiful women of my acquaintance and _this _doesn't change that. I am sorry however that I was unable to heal you completely so I could spare you this reminder."

"I need to give you one thing. You can be quite a charmer when you decide that the situation calls for it. Unfortunately your silver tongue doesn't change facts. And the fact is that I won't ever be able to wear anything with any kind of neckline without looking disgusting."

"You never would look that way even if you tried. And while I'd give a lot to be able to make your skin unmarred again and free you from having to bear a reminder of your pain, this mark also reminds me of the fact that despite what happened you are still here. And I cannot possibly feel anything but gratefulness for every moment I'm able to spend with you when I see this scar. If you ask me, you don't have to cover it again."

Her heart sped up and she turned away from him, presumably to get a chance to collect herself.

"Are you sure you aren't just saying that to have a free access to my neck again?"

"No matter what you may imply I _am _capable of more than just thinking of fulfilling my most basic needs. _Especially _when those I care for are concerned."

"I never said I doubted that." She quickly assured as if afraid of her words having more dire consequences. Whether she was willing to admit it or not, being close to anyone was still very much a terra incognita for Vicki and she was sometimes caught not knowing how carefully she should tread.

"I do hope so. Otherwise I fear that whatever relationship we have would be on very shaky ground to say the least."

"Henry… You know that sometimes I say things I really don't mean. Or in a way I never intended, right?"

He chose to spare her further attempts of salvaging the situation.

"I know. I also know that spending all day alone probably doesn't improve that. And seeing how it probably leaves you with an unfulfilled need of company and social interaction I believe you could use one night of letting go of stress in the company of a friend."

"And I suppose you are going to be that friend?"

"I'm going to be anything you need me to be. I could do no less for the one I love."

"And do you?" She suddenly sounded very vulnerable.

"Do you have any doubts still?" He held her gaze. "Right now you seem to need a friend rather than lover though, so allow me to be just that.

"If you insist. How could I refuse?"

III

Vicki shifted the papers on her desk for the thousandth time, it seemed and once again thought about how she was going to show Coreen how much her work is appreciated the minute the girl was able to come back to work.

A knock sounded at the office door jarring her from her thoughts. She looked up and saw a nervous looking man in his late thirties or early forties.

"Can I help you?" She asked him when he stood in the doorway without saying a word.

"Yes. No. Perhaps. I found your advertisement and thought... When you wrote supernatural did you mean sects and cults or the real thing?"

"Why do you ask? And please have a seat."

The man moved nervously towards the chair as she gestured.

"Because if you told me yesterday it was the latter I would have laughed."

"And today?"

"And today I need somebody's help. Only it's not really a case. More like a question. Perhaps I shouldn't have come here."

"Why don't you tell me what it is and then we can decide what to do about it?"

"I warn you, it might sound like I'm crazy."

"I assure you, I am no stranger to crazy stories."

"Alright then." The man paused. "I saw a vampire last night."

'_So did I. We watched a movie together and he told me about his new idea for a comic book. Welcome to my side of sanity.'_

"How do you know it was a vampire? Sometimes things we might mistake for the supernatural have the simplest explanations."

"I don't think there is a simple explanation for this one. I saw it attacking a young woman in the park, drinking her blood..." The man broke off.

'_Young woman, huh? How very original.'_

"Did you get a closer look at the vampire? Could you describe hi... it?"

'_Please say no. I have enough on my plate as it is.'_

"I think so."

'_Damn.'_

"It... looked like a woman. Pale, with wavy black hair. If it wasn't for her grimace and the blood on her lips she would probably have even been pretty."

In her mind Vicki was running out of curses. And all her years as a cop left her with no small collection for various occasions.

"Could you describe in detail what you saw?"

"You believe me?"

"Let's say I've seen enough weird things that I'm willing to allow the possibility."

"Well, I was coming home from work, I stayed late yesterday to finish a project, and I heard a scream in the park. I thought someone was attacking a girl. Those things happen after all. I'm a brown belt so I thought that maybe I'd be able to stop them so I ran in that direction. When I got closer, I saw _the vampire_ biting the girl's neck. The girl tried to fight but her attempts grew weaker and she finally stopped moving. When it killed her, the vampire looked up and for a second I could have sworn it was looking directly at me. Then it was gone faster than I could blink."

"And what did you do?"

"I couldn't go to the police. They would never believe me and I didn't want to think about what they would say if they arrived to find a cooling body and only me there with my unbelievable story."

'_At a guess, Mike would have said something along the lines of 'not again' and called Henry which would have given us a warning a few hours earlier.'_

"That's what you didn't do. Nowplease tell me what you did."

"The only logical thing I could think of. I ran to the nearest church and waited there until morning."

Vicki had a hard time not snorting at that logic.

"And?"

"And then I went home and flipped through the phonebook looking for... I don't know... an exorcist or something."

'_Exorcist. Thank goodness he didn't look for Buffy. Then again exorcism.... In Christina's case it couldn't hurt to try. Though if she was possessed someone would have noticed... that she suddenly became nicer.'_

"I take it all the exorcists were busy so you settled for good old me?"

"Actually, I haven't found any." '_It's amazing what doses of sarcasm some people can remain blissfully unaware of.' _

"But you found me."

"Yes. And this brings me to why I came... I need to know if the vampire saw me and if it's going to come after me now."

'_If you were close enough to take a look at her face she would have to be blind not to notice you. And deaf and have a seriously impaired sense of smell. And if she wanted you dead the only way we'd be able to talk would be via a medium. But that brings me to the question why did she leave a witness?'_

"I think even if you were seen it is unlikely the vampire remembered you. I would avoid staying late at work for some time though. Do you want me to investigate the vampire or did you just come here for the information?"

"Actually I just wanted to know... I am ready to pay you to make sure the vampire is not after me."

"You are aware that I take five hundred a day and the vampire might not reappear?"

"Still, I'd feel better. Thank you."

He extended his hand and shook hers and she started to feel as if she had just thrown her job ethics through the window.

III

Once the client left Vicki quickly took out her cell and dialled Doctor Mohadevan.

"Hi, Rajani? I'm sorry to bother you but..."

"Actually I was wondering when I was going to hear from you, Vicki."

"Really?"

"Yes. I guess you are calling about the girl found in the park."

"Right in one. What can you tell me?"

"Since you are calling you probably already know she was drained of blood. Complete exsanguination. It's hard to say if it's anything like the previous cases. The tissue on the neck is too torn. Either something was hungry or covering for itself."

"I see. Anything more?"

"I'm not sure if it's of any importance, it could be just a coincidence..."

"But?"

"The girl, Virginia Summers according to her ID, was in her early twenties, had straight black hair and when she was brought in was wearing Goth makeup."

Vicki sat down and in her mind once again went through the list of all the curses, invectives and expletives she ever learned in her life.

"Thanks Rajani. You are great help. I'll see if I can work something out."

"You know you can always count on me, Vicki."

When she disconnected the call, the PI looked around her office as if the walls could offer some answers. Finally her gaze rested on the cabinet under which...

She stood up and went to the said piece of furniture. She had something to retrieve.

III

Suddenly a sinking feeling of dread registered when her investigative instincts flared and another one of the infamous Vicki Nelson hunches took over. For the longest time she fought it, not wanting to face the possible implications and, more importantly, risk upsetting Coreen's still fragile health by putting any additional strain on her.

Finally she had to admit that resistance was futile. She dialled her assistant's number.

"Hi, Coreen. How are you feeling?"

"A bit better every day. It won't be long before you'll have to put up with me again."

"Glad to hear it. But take your time and don't try to rush anything. I'd rather have you well."

"I don't think they would let me go before I am anyway. Vicki... don't think it's not great to hear from you, but why are you calling in the middle of the day?"

"Actually I've been working on a case and thought I'd ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Do you know anyone by the name of Virginia Summers?"

"That sounded very cop-like. Are you sure you aren't doing this for Mike?"

"Don't think the distance and the fact that you are recuperating make you safe if you push too far."

The girl laughed. "Anyway, why do you ask? It's not like I know every Goth in Toronto."

"Ah, but you know she's a Goth so I suppose you _do _know her."

"Not really. Gin is just someone who buys my old clothes sometimes. You know, I like to refresh my wardrobe often so she gets them in good condition for half the price and I get a better shopping budget."

"I see. So she is wearing your clothes?"

"The way you make that sound... She is wearing _her _clothes. She only buys them from me. Why are you asking about her?"

"Her name happened to come up in the case."

"And you decided to call me? Yeah, sure, I have problems with my heart not my head, you know. Has something happened to her?"

"Coreen..."

"It's really Mike's case, isn't it? He recognised something she was wearing and had you call me."

"Coreen, Mike wouldn't know the difference if _I _started borrowing your clothes. Have you seen some of his ties?"

"But you aren't denying it, are you? If she was killed just tell me. I can take it, you know. Much better than this suspense anyway. So tell me – is she dead?"

The PI paused for a moment before deciding not to hide the truth that the girl would be bound to discover sooner or later. Probably sooner.

"Yes, she is."

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line.

"I see. Thanks for telling me. Please, tell Mike to do his best to catch whoever it was, alright?"

"Coreen..."

"No, I'll be fine. I just need a moment. Talk to you later, ok.?"

"Sure, Coreen. Bye."

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. She put the cell in her pocket and looked at the golden sun lying on her desk. There was hardly any hesitation on her part as she slid the device into her jacket as well.

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	6. Chapter VI

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter VI

Henry awoke to hear Vicki's heart, far from its usual rhythm, in his living room. That already had him worried as he exited his bedroom but he still wasn't prepared for the horror he felt when he saw the item she was grasping tightly in her hand. Desperately he was trying to convince himself he was somehow misreading the situation.

"Vicki?" He asked quietly and felt his heart break when he saw she was startled by his voice tearing her away from her thoughts. She looked at him and he cautiously took a few steps towards her. "What happened?"

"I have a new client." She spoke in an absolutely inscrutable tone. "He said he saw a vampire kill a girl yesterday night."

Henry lowered his head, in vain trying to silence his heart, wounded by the blow he should have seen coming.

"I can only give you my word that I had nothing to do with it and that you have nothing to fear from me. If my word still means anything to you."

"What?" She rose and stepped closer to him. He had to fight his instincts to remain still as she was closing the distance between them, still holding the Iluminaciòn del Sol. There was no point doing anything anyway – he couldn't imagine his heart could possibly hurt any more if she actually used the device.

"Victoria..."

"Henry, I don't fear you. I never did."

"I don't know if you are trying to fool me or yourself, Vicki, but there is no point. The item in your hand tells more than any words could." He saw her look down as if she only now realised what she was holding. "But I can't blame you. I still recall feeling your fear then. How can I fault you for fearing for your life after that?"

"Henry... God, don't you get it?!" She suddenly exclaimed in exasperation and threw the golden sun across the room. He silently watched it fall. "I didn't fear for my life, alright? Yeah, I kept the thing. But not because of that."

"Well, if this was your idea of a souvenir I must say it was in particularly bad taste." He attempted sarcasm but couldn't hold onto it under the waves of conflicting emotions. "I know you don't like admitting to your fears, Vicki. But I also know what I felt from you then. And given the situation..."

"So I was scared. I never said I wasn't. But when did you get into your head that I feared you?" He stared at her for a moment certain that one of them was losing their sanity.

"You were locked in a room with a starved vampire." He said as if addressing a child. "You had every right to..."

"Will you give it up already?" She looked at him, meeting his eyes. "Tell me, do you really think that being trapped with a _chained_ vampire while armed with a stake is _worse_ than charging at a demon with nothing but my asp? Or trying hand-to-hand combat with a killer ghost? Or going against a bunch of zombies? _Or,_ if your ego won't let those register, against a _free_ vampire, in a dark park, with only my asp and no way of knowing what part of my movie-based knowledge might be true? Did you feel such fear from me then?"

He stared at her, unable to move, trying to process what she said. It felt almost as if she spoke in a language he didn't understand that only superficially resembled English. He closed his eyes for a second trying to collect his thoughts.

"Henry? Say something." He heard her speak and opened his eyes to once again meet her gaze.

"Why keep it then?" His voice lost all strength, only weariness remained.

"Wanna know what scared me then? I didn't know if you were ever going to regain control. If I hadn't lost you already. I realised I had absolutely no way of even slowing you down short of killing you. And I knew I couldn't do it."

Henry lifted his eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know, the stake. But that was easy, old routine. There isn't much difference in the way you give a warning no matter if you are holding a 19mm Beretta or a piece of sharpened wood. But the similarities end there. No warning shots. No shooting to incapacitate..." She returned to the couch and sat heavily. "That thing... What it does is horrible but at least it didn't kill you... So if anything ever happened..."

She hid her face in her hands and didn't speak anymore. Very slowly he walked to the couch and sat beside her.

"Is that why you brought that here tonight?"

"No, actually. I was afraid she did something to you and if she did, simply staking her would be too quick. Weakening her with the Iluminaciòn before burning her eyes out with a UV flashlight would be much more fitting." He winced involuntarily at that. "Yeah, I know, eyes are one of the areas of the body most vulnerable to pain. They teach that for hand-to-hand combat if the opponent overpowers you."

"And you actually have the UV flashlight?"

She reached into her bag and took out a small flashlight that she put on the table. Half-aware of his actions Henry reached out and made sure it was facing away from him.

"It was kind of a joke gift from the CSU guys after I said I was quitting the force and becoming a PI. Something along the lines of Vicki Nelson would never stop investigating homicides so she'd better have the equipment. The funny thing is, they were right in a way. Only they didn't count on me having a partner able to smell a few drops of blood from across the room, rendering the thing useless."

He smiled at her gently, feeling a weight lift from his heart at still being referred to as her partner. Only then did another thing register.

"Who is the 'her' you were talking about, Vicki?"

"Oh, I don't know. Who is the first person that comes to _your _mind when you hear of a dark-haired female vampire who happened to kill a Goth girl wearing Coreen's clothes?"

Whatever was left of his composure failed in that moment. Vicki suddenly grew into a glowing shape to him, as he could see her blood flowing under her skin and he knew his eyes must have gone dark.

"It can't be her." He hissed through elongated fangs. "She was to never return here."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. We can't be certain of anything, you know. But I do have an eyewitness so possibly we might be able to check."

"And how do you propose we go about that?"

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps if we could find _someone_ who can draw her portrait from memory we could ask my client if it was her."

"I find it surprising that he remembers anything at all, let alone her description."

"Well, she didn't seem to particularly care about leaving a witness."

He looked at her for a moment futilely trying to remain collected in the face of this news, his growing hunger and the emotional turmoil she put him through earlier. He forced himself to focus.

"Victoria, I must thank you for bringing this to my attention but at the same time ask you to stay away from it now for your own safety. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you left the city for some time. Didn't you say your mother lived outside Toronto?"

He caught her hand as it was approaching his face on collision course with his chin. She struggled to free herself and it definitely didn't help the situation that the action served to cause her heartbeat to elevate, working to further impair whatever control he still had over himself. He didn't let go.

III

Vicki's initial fury faded a bit, giving room for worry when she felt Henry's grip tighten. She briefly wondered if he realised that he had almost completely cut off the circulation in her limb. Then she managed to catch the look in his eyes. If one could somehow add weariness and vulnerability to the look of a tiger ready to leap that would probably make a passable approximation of what she'd seen.

Once again she tried to free her hand. When she failed, she decided to make the best of the situation.

"If you promise not to shut me out and work with me on this, I'll let you feed."

His almost hypnotising expression shifted a bit as he blinked a few times and looked at her with his onyx eyes.

"Vicki..." came out his tortured whisper. "Please..."

"Hey, the rules are simple. It's you who's causing the problem here." She held his gaze at the same time wondering if she hadn't just made a grave mistake.

'_Oh great, Nelson. Trying to take advantage of his moment of vulnerability. Any moment now he's gonna dash out of here and I'll be left wondering if there is anything left to salvage from our relationship.'_

She felt her heart racing, which, judging by Henry's now slightly trembling hands, wasn't helping him any.

Suddenly he was not holding her anymore. No matter how much she was preparing herself for such an outcome her heart sank. Then the fact that he didn't move beyond the initial first steps to put distance between them registered.

She looked up. He was breathing heavily, facing away from her. As if sensing her gaze he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Vicki, I can't let you take the risk. I can't lose you."

"But it's okay if I lose you? We've been there before, remember? And I think we can safely agree that the outcome wasn't pretty. Besides, if it's really Christina, she's already made pushing your buttons into an art form. Wouldn't it be better if we approached the whole thing calmly and analytically before she drags you beyond the point of no return?"

He shook his head. "If I was trying to approach this analytically, the first question I would ask would be what possessed you to start spending your time contemplating ways to inflict pain on vampires."

She snorted. "I assure you, it didn't take as long as you might think. I wondered what I'd want to do to her if she hurt you. And while clawing her eyes out would be a more instinctive reaction, I was aiming for more lasting damage." He turned and looked at her in disbelief. "What? I warned you I had issues, didn't I? And it's not _my _father who had boiling people alive as a suitable penalty for committing felonies written into law."

"You are the most fervent fan of Amnesty International, aren't you? And to think I was deluding myself that the times actually did change a bit."

"What, no nostalgic feelings?"

"If there is anything I'm nostalgic about, it certainly isn't the penal system." He must have decided he regained his self control as he stepped closer to her again. "Vicki, is there any way I can persuade you to trust me to deal with this and stay safe?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? All you get to decide is whether you want us to work together or separately, with an assurance that when the problem is dealt with I won't speak to you again."

"Even if it is I who deals with the situation?"

"That won't change the fact that by going alone you'll be showing where you think my place in this relationship is. And quite frankly, it's not one I want to be in."

Usually staring contests with vampires were probably in the same category as those with snakes. Or cats. Possibly, given the circumstances, wild, dangerous cats. Still, she stood her ground. Finally Henry sighed.

"I can't..." He started and she looked away from his dark eyes to hide the hurt she felt. "I shouldn't allow it... Not with such risk... At least promise me you'll be careful, Vicki."

She looked back at him. She couldn't help it if her eyes were shining or her heart was beating faster than it should but she did her best not to show her feelings otherwise.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" She threw at him before their eyes met. Staring into his dark orbs she suddenly understood that yes, it was hard, very hard, and it took an insane amount of energy and willpower for him to say it. She closed the remaining distance between them. "Henry, I promise, alright? But we are in this together."

With some hesitation she initiated an embrace and rested her head on his arm. She felt him stiffen and he turned his face away from her. She could almost feel the inner struggle for control radiating from him.

"You can help yourself if you are still hungry, you know."

She heard a soft chuckle and felt fingers gently caressing her neck.

"Sealing the promise with blood? You really _are _fond of the old ways, aren't you?"

"Sealing _both_ promises you meant to say. Besides, you look miserable when you're hungry and I hate seeing you miserable so it doesn't hurt to kill two birds with one stone."

"Maybe it's just my pride speaking but I have a feeling that 'miserable' is not the first word that usually comes to people's minds when they are faced with a hungry vampire. Speaking of which, Vicki, for future reference – trying to manhandle a hungry vampire who just learned his territory was threatened generally isn't the wisest thing to do."

"You are just saying that so you don't have to risk that my hand will connect next time. Out of curiosity – are you planning to talk until you starve?"

He chuckled again but at the same time held her closer to himself.

"You are probably the first person to nag me about skipping meals. Come, we should probably go back to the couch for that."

She didn't protest.

TBC

Reviews will be appreciated.


	7. Chapter VII

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter VII

They entered the building where Vicki's new client lived and were immediately met with an out of order sign on the elevator. Vicki stifled a groan, earning a quick smile from Henry.

"Does he really live so high?" He asked amusedly.

"High enough, judging from the apartment number. I was hoping to at least skip some of the stair-climbing. Oh well, nothing like a tiring, unnecessary task to present yourself well to your client."

"I doubt your image will suffer too much. After all he _did _come to you because of your reputation of dealing with things most people don't even believe in."

"Oh, thanks." She threw sarcastically in reply as she started to ascend the stairs.

As they neared the floor her client probably occupied she saw Henry breathe in and grimace before he went further. She looked at him questioningly but soon enough she had her answer as her nose was assaulted by the smell of garlic two floors later.

"If you changed your mind about being unaffected by garlic, now would be the time to say something." She said when to her great surprise it turned out that they still had one floor to go before reaching her client. The smell grew almost unbearable.

"_I _will be fine. I wonder how _he_ is still able to breathe." He frowned briefly. "To be honest it looks like another Stoker victim in the making."

She looked at him questioningly.

"_Stoker victim_?"

"Yes. There was this story, it was all over the papers in 1973. A man in New York was so afraid of vampires that he ended up choking to death in his bedroom on a clove of garlic he was holding in his mouth while sleeping. His whole house was full of garlic. And, if I remember correctly, of crosses and plates with water. Presumably holy water but there was no scientific way to find out."

"I'm surprised you remember all the details."

"I happen to be _slightly _oversensitive when it comes to articles with headlines 'Vampire Victim Found Dead in His Bedroom'. Especially when they appear in otherwise respectable newspapers."

"Wonder why that is. By the way – vampire victim?"

"Probably sounded better than 'Paranoid man choked on garlic'. You have to admit you can't really pin that accident on vampire involvement."

"What did he think the vampire would do to him anyway that he came up with garlic in his mouth? French kiss him to death?"

Before even a second passed, she suddenly found herself in a passionate kiss, that ended before she could properly return it. She saw Henry smirk.

"A truly direful fate that would be, would it not?"

"I may need to see into the matter in more detail later, to form a firm opinion. Hey, who knows, maybe that guy just broke up with a vampire girlfriend and wanted to pass her a subtle message that he didn't want to see her again."

"If he ever had a vampire girlfriend, don't you think he would have known something about how successful his methods would be? But while I understand that you can't quite resist solving a fatality case no matter that it's from the early seventies and happened far from here I believe we should concentrate on your actual case for now. Especially since I believe we've found the place. You can check the number if you like but I believe the smell is a confirmation in itself."

"To put it lightly. Vampire myths aside I'm surprised you are still here. I'm barely able to stand this and your sense of smell is _slightly_ better than mine."

He laughed. "You think that's bad? You should have tried London shortly after I was turned. After that everything else is barely a discomfort."

"I so didn't need that in my imagination. But let's get back to business." She knocked on the door. A moment later she heard someone on the other side of the door but no locks moved.

"Who is it?"

"Good evening Mr. Rosen. It's Vicki Nelson. I just dropped by with my partner to check something with you about the case. Can we come in for a minute?"

"How do I know it's you?"

"Who else would I be? You know, with all that garlic you would have probably discouraged not only all vampires but also most humans from coming even close to you right now." She decided not to look at Henry right now for fear of bursting into laughter.

"Alright. I will open the door. But you are not invited inside." True to his word the door was unlocked and opened a moment later and she could now see the pale face of her client. Who was holding a badly sharpened chair leg.

"How the hell am I supposed to take that?"

"Easy. Vampires can't go into a house unless invited so I'm not inviting anybody in anymore. If they can get in all the same then I at least know they are safe."

"A very sound idea if I may say so." Henry stepped over the doorstep with no problems whatsoever and pointed at the man's makeshift weapon. "Though I would advise putting this away before you stumble and hurt yourself with it."

Rosen looked at the item in his hand and waited until Vicki stepped over the doorstep as well before reluctantly putting it on a table in the corridor.

"Now that we are done with that, how can I help you Miss Nelson and Mr...?" He broke off.

"My apologies. My name is Henry Fitzroy. As Vicki already mentioned, I'm her partner." Henry extended his hand and the man shook it, more automatically than actually registering the action. Before he could say anything more she spoke.

"We don't want to take too much of your time. We are working on your case as I promised and came across something I need to consult with you. You said you remembered how the vampire looked."

"Yes. It would be hard to forget its looks. I have nightmares about it every time I go to sleep."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Vicki noticed how Henry's jaw set at hearing 'it' and she didn't particularly want to see her partner lose his patience. "But in that case could you tell me if you recognise he... i... _the vampire _in a picture?"

"I suppose so. Do you have a picture of it?"

"Just a sketch." She opened the folder she was holding and took out the drawing that Henry quickly did before they left. "Was it h...i... Is this how the vampire looked?"

The man studied the portrait for a while. Then he frowned.

"It might have been. But its face was so twisted in fury and it had blood smeared on its face. And I think her hair was more tangled and dirty. But it could be the same face. The more I think about it the more sure I am."

Vicki saw Henry close his eyes at hearing that. She didn't dare to imagine what was going on in his head in that moment.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Rosen. You have no idea how much you helped us. I'm sorry for this intrusion. We won't take any more of your time. Have a good night." She couldn't leave her client's place fast enough.

Once they were again in the staircase she risked a glance at Henry.

"You alright?" She questioned even more softly than she intended but she didn't regret it as she saw a grateful flicker in his eyes.

"I'm still praying it isn't her. But whatever small flickers of hope I have seem to be fading. I still hope that since he wasn't absolutely certain..."

"Hey, whether it was her or not we'll deal with it."

"If it is her, I'm not sure we'll be able to even if we wanted."

"As long as we are together we will. She won't know what hit her." She walked a couple of steps without saying a word. "It is her, isn't it?"

"It would be a big coincidence if it wasn't. Still, coincidences happen." He shook his head. "So since you seem to be in charge of planning the operation. What are we doing next?"

"Do you have Christina's cell number?"

"Yes, I do. I doubt though that confronting her over the phone would do much good."

"That's not exactly what I have in mind. Our next stop is the police station. Hopefully Mike stayed after hours and I won't need to cash in any old favours. I doubt if Christina would tell us anything one way or another but her cell might do that for her."

III

When they got to the station they found Mike at his desk, looking through some files and sipping coffee. Kate was nowhere to be seen but Vicki assumed she had to be somewhere on the premises. She couldn't imagine she would leave if they were working a case that kept Mike so long after hours.

They quietly approached the working detective. As he reached for the cup again Henry took it from his reach. When his hand didn't find the item Mike looked up.

"You are incorrigible when it comes to coffee, aren't you Celluci?" The vampire put the cup away on some currently unoccupied desk.

"Well, not all of us can afford to sleep all day. Now give that back."

"I don't think so. Primo, because I don't take orders from you and secundo, because it's already cold anyway."

Mike glared. "I'll let you get away with this for now. Because strangely enough you are just who I wanted to see. You'll never guess what I'm working on right now."

"If you have any grounds to support that assumption, trying to initiate guessing games instead of imparting the knowledge just serves as a proof of your infantilism, Celluci."

The detective gritted his teeth. "Can't you even hold a simple conversation, Fitzroy, or is there a reason why you're acting defensive? Maybe you'd like to share with us something about a girl drained of her blood? And for that matter, what were you doing last night?"

Vicki sighed at the not-so-unexpected way the exchange between the two was going and decided she had enough. Unfortunately for Mike, she didn't particularly like the accusatory tone that sounded in his last question.

"Way ahead of you, Mike. Honestly, if that's how your investigating methods look I'm beginning to think you might have ridden on my coat tails through some of our cases."

"My investigating methods? Let's hear it. How would the great Vicki 'Victory' Nelson handle a body of a girl, wound on the neck, presumably made by teeth, blood missing?"

"Now that you mention it? Look for and question eyewitnesses, possibly get a description of the assailant, ID and do a background check on the victim to see if I could find any motives. Then work with what I got. Any of that crossed your mind?"

"Eyewitnesses. To something like this. What's next, Vic? Or maybe I should hire a PI to find them?"

"You do and I'll charge you for showing you the statement of the one I have."

"Hold it. You have a statement?"

"Is there an echo in here or something? We wanted to work together with you on that one but if this place changed into a kindergarten after I left, I'm starting to have second thoughts."

"You can't withhold vital information to an investigation. And that's legally and not because of our connection. You know that, Vic."

"Sure. Charge me with withholding info on a vampire-related case. We'll see whose reputation turns into a toast faster afterwards."

"Seriously, Vicki…"

"You know, I was willing to work with you on that. But accusing my partner like that is not the best start for cooperation."

From the look on his face Vicki knew that Mike almost – _almost _– winced at that. Instead he took a deep preparatory breath and with one more glance at her – presumably to see if she hadn't changed her mind about the matter – he turned to Henry.

"Sorry about that, Fitzroy. It was uncalled for." His tone could have used a bit, not to say a lot, of sincerity but Henry didn't give any indication of noticing it. Either he tapped into the lessons of diplomacy he undoubtedly had or after the start of the evening he simply didn't care anymore.

"Apology accepted, detective. I know there was no ill will behind the words." He somehow managed to say in an impeccable manner that at the same time could very well be the only thing needed to set Mike off again. For some reason Vicki couldn't bring herself to believe he achieved that effect unknowingly.

"What _do _you have on the case, Mike?" She questioned quickly.

"Not much. A guy went jogging to the park early in the morning and found the girl. She didn't have any blood left in her body. No obvious trails as of the moment. As could be expected I'm beginning to think. That's it. You seem to know more than I do, honestly."

"Any?" Henry suddenly inquired.

"What?"

"She didn't have _any _blood left?"

"Why? That bad table manners for you?"

"A vampire would have to be either newly turned or starving to drain _all_ the blood. Unless she was seriously injured she would have to forgo feeding for at least a week."

"Well," Vicki turned to him, for a moment forgetting about Mike sitting there, without any idea what was going on. "Rajani did say that she would have to either be hungry or covering the trail."

"Hungry would be an understatement."

"But perhaps it fits with what Rosen told us. Her less than presentable looks… Maybe something happened?"

"Maybe." There was a small flicker of hope in his eyes but it died quickly. "I can't think of anything that would bring her to Toronto against all warnings. And the choice of the victim doesn't seem to confirm that. If anything, it implies planning."

"We don't even know for sure if it was her. Maybe it _was _some newbie vamp who just happened to look like her?"

"Maybe." He sounded doubtful but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Suddenly the fact that Mike was staring at them registered.

"Her?" The cop managed.

"Her." She confirmed. "You're so not gonna like this." For the second time that night she took the picture out of the folder and held it up for Mike to see. "Look familiar?"

III

Mike stared at the sketched portrait for a second before recognition dawned. Once it did, he swore and suddenly felt a strange urge to break something. Had Fitzroy not _evacuated _ his cup it might have been the item's final day.

"You sure about it?" He brought himself to ask.

Glancing at the vampire he could see a reluctant confirmation written on his face. Which caused him to raise an eyebrow upon hearing Vicki's firm "Not yet."

He let his sight travel between them.

"You two wanna agree on one version and get back to me?"

"I told you, we don't know for certain. Henry is just being pessimistic. As a matter of fact, you could give us a hand with that, you know."

"Oh, really? Suddenly I can't help but feel like the only thing you need me for these days is cannon fodder."

"You know me better than that, Mike. But if you could tell the tech guys to trace her cell it would sure spare us a lot of work."

"The hours tech guys work haven't changed since you left, Vic. And they don't extend past eleven PM unless it's a major emergency."

"This _is _an emergency."

"You want to be the one to tell them that?" He sighed. "Listen, all we'll need to locate her cell is to find out which transmitters are sending the signal to it. She doesn't have to pick up. It would be enough if she doesn't have the phone turned off. I'll have the guys check it in the morning."

"You'd be surprised from how many places it is possible _not _to pick up the phone, Mike. How do you expect us to find out if she still has it on her?"

"C'mon, Vic, what happened to the detective I knew? Once we have the location confirmed you can call her all you want on your own time."

"Yeah, I expect I'm just the person she will want to take calls from."

"But perhaps," the vampire cut in, "she'd be intrigued enough to take one from me."

"Yeah, that's a brilliant idea." Vicki's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "If she has anything to do with this, seeing a call from you will tip her off that we're on her tail. If she doesn't she may start getting ideas when you initiate contact. Foolproof plan, really."

"So what do you propose?"

"Having someone who she doesn't know call her, or at least calling from a number she won't recognise and seeing if she picks up."

"What I'd like to know for now though," Mike interrupted their discussion, "is if you have any idea if there might be more victims and if so, who might be next on the list before we manage to get her location. We should at least give some warning to those she might go after."

"That shouldn't be hard, considering that most of those people are present." The bastard son of a king answered promptly and suddenly, thinking back to what was said on the matter the last time they worked together, Mike felt a dawning realisation.

"Why the girl then? Some friend of yours you never mentioned before? Favourite entree?"

"Bad luck. Christina…"

"_If _it's her" Vicki interrupted him.

"If it is her, never met Coreen in person. But she did know her scent as it's easy to detect in Vicki's office. As it probably was on the clothes Coreen sold the girl."

Mike swore again. Then he looked at his former partner.

"What are you still doing here then, Vic? Nobody's gonna say a word if you take a week or two off. It's not safe for you in town at the moment."

"Don't even start. I had this argument tonight already and I'm going to have a lot less patience for it the second time around."

"Are you saying you can deal with it with less patience without turning it into manslaughter?" He heard the vampire ask in a stage whisper.

"No idea. But don't you think it's gonna be fun finding out?"

"Alright. Point taken. But if you want me to help with this…"

"Help with what?" He stilled hearing Kate's voice behind him.

"Oh, hi, Kate." Vicki spoke immediately. "I was wondering where you were."

"I went to get myself something to eat. By the way, Mike, here's your sandwich. Nice to know you decided to wait for me and said something before you chose to start working for Vicki on the side."

"Hey, it's not what it looks like, Kate."

"Oh, _really_? Then what is it like?"

"Vicki just wanted me to check something. It's no big deal."

"Then I'm sure neither of you will have a problem with sharing it with me, right?"

For a second Mike desperately looked at the vampire, hoping that he would, for once, use his memory-altering skills for a good cause. What he did get was an arched eyebrow. Suddenly an idea struck.

"Vicki had this case some time ago, you see, to find a missing model, Brandon Ledford. The case reached us as well but in the end all either of us got was that he borrowed a sizable sum and skipped town. Now she was asked to locate him again and what she came up with was that the last time he was seen he was with a woman matching the description of the fashion photographer that came up in another case, one I worked with Dave. There is some similarity between how Ledford went missing and how Alexander Demoret, who was our suspect in that case disappeared. If they were both linked to that woman it might be something, so Vicki wanted me to check her out, just in case. That's it."

He sent the pair a challenging look and saw that while Fitzroy's face remained an unreadable mask, Vicki had a bit harder time schooling her features so they wouldn't betray anything. Finally she managed to get a better control.

"Yeah, that's basically it, Kate. If you want to help us as well you are of course welcome to. But I warn you, it's probably not the best way of staying in Crowley's good graces. I guess I'll hear from you once you check her out, Mike?"

"Yeah. But I'll walk you out. I want to get myself some fresh coffee anyway."

Vicki snorted at that but he managed to keep his face impassive. They walked a few steps before they were out of Kate's hearing range.

"And by the way, Fitzroy. You might not have a problem with earning your living by writing fiction but I do, especially when it goes in the reports. I'd appreciate it if you didn't put me in such positions."

"Contrary to what you may think, detective, I am not responsible for all supernatural occurrences. I'm flattered that you give me so much credit but I can't in good conscience accept it."

"Don't push it, Fitzroy." He glared at the vampire who bowed and then turned to leave.

"Anyway, Mike." Was it just him or was there a bit more than usual irritation in Vicki's voice? "Thanks for your help. I guess you'll get back to me with what you find?"

"Yeah. But if you'd excuse me, I'm still at work here and I have a job to do, you know. A concept you seem to have a habit of forgetting."

"It's been great seeing you too, Mike. Bye."

"Bye, Vic."

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	8. Chapter VIII

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter VIII

Vicki was sitting at her desk, trying in vain to analyse if there were any security cameras near the park that could possibly provide the video footage of the rogue vampiress. She knew it was an extremely long shot but still, coming up with absolutely no results left her frustrated.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings, all things considered." She suddenly heard spoken into her ear when a second before she was alone in the office.

In the moment that it took her to realise she knew the voice her heart sped up, almost threatening to escape from her chest.

"It won't matter if my partner manages to give me a heart attack, will it?"

"You shouldn't be here alone after dark."

"I had a job that needed to be finished."

"You could have finished it at my place. I'm sure you know I wouldn't mind and nobody would be able to get to you without my knowledge."

"I'm a big girl, Henry."

"With a rather unimpressive record when it comes to taking on vampires."

"I'm not letting fear rule my life, Henry."

"I'd rather have you paranoid than dead."

"As you can see, I'm still in one piece, despite not running to you as soon as the sun approached the horizon."

"And what assurances can you give me that you remain that way tomorrow night?" His eyes flashed black for a moment before returning to stormy blue. "I can't lose you, Vicki. If something happened to you…"

"Well, if we deal with it right, maybe you won't need to worry tomorrow night."

"Do you have anything?" With the way his eyes lit with the question she really hated giving him the answer.

"Not really. But I'm working on it."

"What were you working on then?"

"Big fat dead end, as it appears. But that was all I had. On a lighter note, you may be glad to know that I talked with Doctor Sagara. She was in Ottawa on some two-day symposium and agreed to extend her stay a week, spontaneous vacation, you know."

"Thank you, Vicki." Relief was clearly visible on his face. "You cannot know how glad I am to hear that at least she will be safe."

"Hey, I thought I might as well do that for you. You are under enough stress already."

"How thoughtful of you. I gather you didn't extend that to changing your mind about staying to further eliminate my concerns?"

"Now, don't push it, Henry."

He was about to reply when he suddenly raised his hand asking for silence. After a moment he relaxed again and turned expectantly to the door.

"Do you have anything interesting for us, Celluci?" He asked seconds before the door opened revealing the detective.

"Your ex sends her love from Montreal. Before I left, Kate called her with basically the same story I cooked up yesterday. So your _sweetheart_ unfortunately doesn't recall any Brandon Ledford but is willing to help us if we need anything as long as it doesn't require her visiting Toronto. Which, apparently, she is unable to do due to _health problems_. Other than that she seemed a bit disconcerted that Toronto PD has her private number. No idea why, really."

The vampire closed his eyes and for a second stood absolutely still.

"She's in Montreal?" He finally whispered.

"That's what I said. What, were you _hoping _for a reunion?"

"Mike has a point, Henry." Vicki couldn't resist. "You aren't exactly the epitome of relief at the moment."

He shook his head. "I _am _relieved, very relieved to hear it wasn't her. But that also means that we wasted a day on a wild goose chase."

"Well, if you don't mind me saying this, after the mayhem she caused on her last visit I would say just knowing it isn't her is good news."

"But at least I knew her enough to predict some of her actions." Henry turned to Mike. "Were there any more victims?"

"If there were I would be sitting behind my desk at work right now, trying to find a way to explain the whole mess without mentioning any bloodsuckers in my report."

Henry glared at him briefly.

"Would you have access to files of any women generally fitting the description that went missing over the period of about a year outside Toronto? If she is newly turned we might be able to identify her."

"I'll see what I can do." Mike nodded just as Vicki shot a question.

"Why outside Toronto?"

"Vicki," Henry gave her a half-amused look, "Toronto is mine. Don't you think I would remember if I turned anyone recently?"

"You mean you already forgot that two other vampires dropped by in the meantime?"

"Something would have happened sooner if that was the case."

"And I hate to tell you that but sometimes you act awfully behind the times."

She heard Mike snort as Henry focused on her with a sigh.

"Do I even want to know what _that _was supposed to mean?"

"Just that you seem to be forgetting that for all you know there could have been a girl living two blocks away from here that met another vampire via the Internet, ran away from home to Europe to meet him and then returned here for whatever reason after he turned her."

"Fine. We may need to search within Toronto as well. Satisfied?"

Mike cleared his throat.

"What you two seem to be forgetting here is that my job description doesn't include locating files for you. And I _do _currently have an open case that I'd rather have a flesh and blood suspect for."

"In case you haven't noticed by now, Celluci, vampires _are _flesh and blood."

The cop rolled his eyes and walked to the door.

"Whatever. You two go chase the monsters lurking in the shadows. I have a long day of finding normal suspects ahead of me tomorrow so I'm going home. I'll tell you when I get those files, Vic."

"Thanks, Mike."

She got a reply in form of an exasperated sigh as the detective walked towards the door.

"Detective?" Henry spoke before the man had a chance to leave.

"What now, Fitzroy?"

"Call us once you get home. And keep your weapon on you at all times."

"And here I thought I would need some wooden toys. This opens a whole new area of possibilities."

"You will find that most creatures with a central nerve system will be at least slowed down with a large calibre to the head." Henry stated coolly.

The man responded with some undecipherable muttering, followed closely by the sound of the door slamming. The PI counted to three before speaking.

"Well, that went well. At least we have gotten a bit ahead."

Only now, looking at him she saw true relief grace his features.

"Yes, that we have."

She couldn't be sure if the words were spoken to her or to himself.

III

Henry awoke for the night to the sound of Vicki's heart nearby. He dressed quickly and entered his living room. She was leaning over some files lying in several piles on the table.

"Good evening, Victoria."

She looked up.

"Oh, hey, up already?"

"I may be wrong, but until now I was under the impression that the time I wake isn't exactly unpredictable."

"I just had no idea I was sitting here this long. I came here at eleven after Mike dropped by during lunch to give me those." She gestured the table.

"The files of the missing women, I presume."

"Yeah. I've been trying to sort them according to the likeliness of them being our suspect."

"And just how were you going about that?" He sat next to her.

"First, the ones that might have a motivation to be turned. Goths, victims to any illnesses, that kind of thing. Then the trouble started."

"How so?"

"Let's just say I could use some help from one of our profilers. I pegged the introverted realist types as less likely as opposed to more outgoing types but now I'm stuck. I don't have much to go by and some more obvious choices are out. Like for example I might normally think that devout Catholics might not be likely to run off with a vampire if I didn't have evidence to the contrary sleeping in the next room."

He chuckled.

"Do you need any help then? I might be able to offer some insight here."

"That would be nice. Thanks."

They worked for a moment before Vicki spoke again.

"You know what I'm worried about, really? That this is going to be another dead end. You said yourself that it was strange that Rosen had his memory unaltered. But what if he doesn't? I mean he recognised Christina and we already know it wasn't her. What if someone is trying to wreck you emotionally first and had that memory planted in his mind?"

"Even if that was the case we wouldn't be able to do much more than we are already doing now. Not to mention your client saw her only for a moment and at night. The picture might have influenced him to some degree. Besides, what purpose would it serve? If they didn't know about the outcome of my last meeting with Christina they probably wouldn't have enough knowledge to attempt something like that. And if they did, they had no way of knowing if my thinking it's her wouldn't only make me more furious and more set on finding the one responsible."

"Unless that's what they counted on. You being angry and making a slip."

"But I won't, will I? I have you here to make sure I deal with it methodically."

"You know it. When will you need to go feed?"

He considered that for a second. Leaving would mean that Vicki would be alone, without him having any way of knowing if she was safe. And even taking her with him to one of the places he usually fed wouldn't ensure her safety. There were too many distractions there for him to monitor her without being very close. Asking the Heavens what he did to deserve being faced with such choices, he decided.

"I'm ordering in. I just need to ask you not to show yourself."

"You _what_?! You gotta be joking."

He chuckled at her reaction.

"I don't intend to let things go too far. I will feed and leave the girl with memories of pleasantly spent night. That's all."

Judging by Vicki's face, she was trying, and failing, to construct some response. He decided to spare her the trouble.

"But that's something for later. Right now I believe you wanted to show me some files?"

"Uh, yeah." He was grateful she was unaware just how clearly he could read her relief.

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	9. Chapter IX

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter IX

Kate looked up from the file with a sigh of frustration. A feeling that, at least in Mike's opinion, was quite understandable. It wasn't as if they were getting anywhere with the case and, even if he chose to keep that particular information to himself, it didn't seem they were going to find anything.

"Hey, partner." He lifted his eyes from the screen to see Kate staring at him. "We are more likely to find a cure for cancer than anything on the case by the looks of it. What do you say we go to the scene and see if anything occurs to us there?"

"Why would we do that, Kate?" Mike tried to appear sceptical.

"We have nothing to work with as it is. It's impossible the girl bled out there. There wasn't enough blood at the scene. Hell, there was hardly any blood at the scene. That means the CSU missed something."

"Maybe it was some kind of animal?"

"Not even animals can be that thorough and you know it."

Mike was silently cursing the very first moment he heard of vampires. Outwardly though he did his best to look somewhat disinterested.

"Even if there was something to find at the time, I doubt we'd see it now."

"Honestly, Mike! If this is how you approach cases you don't find interesting or solvable, I have a newly developed respect for Vicki for all the cases you solved together."

"How about we don't bring Vicki into this for once, Kate?"

"Oh, I'd love to concentrate on something else. Like the fact that we have a case involving a girl, whose family would probably want to at least see her killer punished."

Mike sighed. "In that case let me fetch a stake," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that, Mike?"

"Nothing. But it's gonna be dark soon."

"Then I suppose we should get going so we can still see everything once we get there."

Mike quickly reviewed the pros and cons of going with Kate on this as opposed to trying to downplay the matter. The effects of this cold calculation were quite obvious.

"Just don't blame me if we come out with nothing. Who's driving?"

III

When the sky started darkening Mike started to feel some inexplicable worry. The problem was, he had no way of communicating that to his partner in a rational manner without telling her there was a crazy vampire on the loose in the city. Which pretty much contradicted the 'rational' part anyway.

"Listen, Kate, how about we come back tomorrow? In a moment we won't be able to see a thing anyway."

"A few more minutes, Mike. The more time from the crime, the less we are likely to find anything. You said that much yourself. If it were to rain tonight…"

"The forecast didn't say anything about rain. And it's already dark. We wouldn't see a clue even if it was staring us in the face."

"Okay, perhaps you are right. But tomorrow…"

"I promise. Now, can we go?"

An animal-like shriek echoed through the park. Both detectives instantly went on alert but they could see nothing. Until a shadow breezed in their direction.

Expecting the worst, Mike pushed Kate out of the way and found himself thrown a considerable distance backwards by something that instantly had him in its clutches. He couldn't see much of the creature aside from the general female figure and eyes – dark red, almost glowing in whatever light there was in the park. They almost burned into his mind before a second later he felt teeth make contact. Some part of his mind absently noted the stench of death coming from her.

With a desperate effort he fumbled for his gun and started shooting blindly.

The creature jerked in surprise and let go of him. He didn't even want to consider what would happen once he ran out of bullets.

His last coherent thought was that until now it never occurred to him to think that Fitzroy actually went easy on him.

III

When she was a little girl, Kate had a book of Grimm brothers' fairy tales. She knew them almost by heart but at the same time, even as a child she knew they weren't real. That knowledge only strengthened as she grew up and it became a firm foundation of her calm and rational view of the world.

When she became a homicide cop, that foundation suddenly disappeared when she was faced with the realisation that the tales from that book, even though fictional, told of things people could really do to each other. She took that realisation hard even though she tried not to show it. As far as the world was concerned she was a typical rookie cop who hadn't gotten used to seeing crime scenes yet.

But she could still remember the shock she felt upon that realisation. For the longest time she was certain that nothing she could possibly encounter in her life could cause a reaction that could even remotely match that.

She was wrong. Now, staring with unbelieving eyes at what was happening she was only coming to the realisation of how wrong. Out of instinct rather than anything else she reached for her gun and started shooting.

III

Detective Lam was standing in the flashing lights of the ambulance trying desperately to tell herself to wake up and never fall asleep at work again. Unfortunately the more she tried the more certain she was becoming that she was the furthest from sleep she could possibly be.

But that would mean she'd have to accept that what was happening _was _happening, and she couldn't. It was, after all, impossible. It was insane. Unbelievable in every meaning. It was… just the kind of thing Vicki Nelson was now dabbling in.

Vicki Nelson.

Kate felt as if someone punched her in the gut. Half-aware of her own actions she took out her cell and selected a number. It didn't take long for the PI to answer.

"Hey, Kate. What's up?"

The woman's tone felt almost surreal.

"Vicki." The detective managed. "It was a vampire."

She choked that revelation out and with morbid calmness waited for an answer. She didn't know what kind of answer exactly she expected. She just knew that the one she got probably wasn't it.

"Wait a sec. What were you saying about a vampire? Is this about your case?"

"No. Well, yes, the case too. It was a vampire. I saw it…"

"You _saw _a vampire?"

"Just for a moment. We were in the park and we heard something and Mike… oh, God."

"Kate? What about Mike?"

"It got him. It happened so fast I didn't even see the attack coming. I…" She broke off as there was a sudden crash on the other side, quite possibly indicating the phone hitting the ground.

She tried to call Vicki's name a few times but it didn't seem to have any effect. When she finally did hear a voice in her cell again it was a masculine one, not quite unfamiliar but not really well known to her either. She couldn't quite tell what the voice was saying or asking for but she found herself somehow calmly reporting everything about what she just saw to whomever she was speaking with.

A moment later the call ended and she found herself broken out of the pleasant detachment that had come over her sometime during the conversation when she realised that one of the paramedics wanted to speak to her.

III

Henry put Vicki's cell on the table and went to the PI who was frozen in a kneeling position on the floor where she sank to her knees before. He pulled her into a gentle embrace. The woman was shaking in quiet sobs.

"Calm down, Vicki. Please. It's not as bad as you think."

"Kate… Kate said that she got Mike. How can that possibly…"

"Shhh. She didn't mean it like that. She couldn't possibly know how you'd interpret her words."

"Then what the hell did she mean? Unless you tell me that she didn't mean it when she said Mike was attacked…"

"He was attacked but he is alive. Apparently Celluci actually _is _capable of following advice and he managed to reach for his gun. He was being loaded to an ambulance when she called you. He drove the attacker away. "

To him it felt as if Vicki suddenly went limp in his arms but her rapidly beating heart insisted that she was still very much conscious. She returned his embrace and rested her head on his arm before she stilled for a long while.

"So he's alive. He's going to be alright."

"Hopefully. Detective Lam wasn't able to give me an accurate assessment of his condition. What I did get out of her was to which hospital we'll have to go to get one."

She stiffened again.

"Please don't even imply that despite everything he may still…"

"There is still a possibility but frankly if he managed to survive until the ambulance arrived he should pull through." He handed her a handkerchief. "Here. We'll go to the hospital to get some information but dry your eyes first. You don't want your reputation ruined."

He spoke confidently while doing his best to silence his thoughts about the variety of possibilities that undermined his statement. Remaining outwardly calm he helped Vicki up and went to get his car keys as she was trying to get her looks in order after the very recent breakdown.

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	10. Chapter X

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter X

"Mike?"

Vicki entered the room and was immediately relieved to see her former partner not only alive but conscious. Kate was sitting next to the bed, keeping him company, almost as pale as he was.

"Kate? Could you let us talk with Mike alone for a moment? I swear it won't take long." The PI spoke fully expecting a protest, argument and ending the matter with Henry using his persuasion on the female cop. She got none of those.

The detective looked at them for a moment with an absent look and nodded, leaving them there without a word. Only then did Vicki realise that Kate probably was in shock. How come nobody noticed that remained a mystery to her. Still, making a mental note to address the matter later, she concentrated on her friend.

"Mike? How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"

"Trust me, this was one of the kind of hard to forget things."

"You never told me how you were feeling." The PI observed. "You need anything? Do you want me to get you something before you tell me all about it?"

"Need? Well, it would be nice if bloodsuckers stopped treating me like an emergency buffet, now that we're at that."

Behind her she heard Henry chuckle.

"I cannot speak for all of us, Celluci, but trust me when I tell you I'm in no hurry to repeat the experience. If one thought your sense of fashion was distasteful, they should try your blood."

Half-amused Vicki observed emotions playing on Mike's face as he was apparently trying to decide if he should be relieved or insulted. To cover for that he eventually decided to steer away from the topic.

"Well, let's hope whatever she was shares your opinion. And by the way, I'm not so sure if she's a vampire. She smelled like something that just crawled out of a sewer and her attack methods almost made _you _seem gentle in comparison."

"She was, however, much less effective. Just by the sound of your heart I can tell you didn't lose that much blood."

That, Vicki realised, was the reason behind Henry so easily falling into the word-sparring routine with Mike despite the situation at hand. Well, that and actually hearing that in the first place even if he would probably rather face the sun than admit he was actually relieved to find the detective well.

"Well, she did seem to have a bit adverse reaction to bullets coming her way so she _might have _been a bit discouraged. You will forgive me if I don't feel sorry for her."

"Mike, stay with us here, alright? Can you tell us exactly what happened? Are you sure she wasn't a vampire?"

"She didn't exactly want to chit-chat so I didn't get a chance to ask her, if that's what you'd want. But aside from what I told you… I know how this is gonna sound but her teeth didn't feel right."

"Do I even want to know what you mean by that?"

"Well, thanks to our prince of darkness here," he sent Henry a dirty look, "I got to experience firsthand how it feels to have a vampire trying to rip your throat out. And this was different somehow. Like she used more teeth or something. Sorry, but I didn't actually spend too much time contemplating that then. I had a few more things on my mind, you know."

"But if she wasn't a vampire what was she?"

"Sorry, Vic, but you are the experts here. I try to concentrate on the situations where assailants have a pulse as opposed to the victims, not the other way round."

"If you are complaining about escaping alive…"

"Besides, what did you expect me to do? Ask Kate to bring me an illustrated encyclopaedia of monsters so I could… God. Kate. She saw everything." He breathed in a sudden realisation.

"Took you long enough to figure that out, Mike. Hopefully Henry can…"

"I'm not letting Fitzroy brainwash my partner."

"It's not your safety that would be at jeopardy, Celluci."

"Oh, I assure you, if I find out Kate is experiencing sudden memory problems you won't have any safety to speak of."

Henry's eyes were darkening and Vicki decided to step in.

"Henry, I believe Mike had enough of vampire or quasi-vampire attacks for tonight, don't you think? And Mike, we'll see if we can somehow deal with Kate without changing her memories, but no promises, alright?"

"Vic…" Suddenly he paused. "Eyes"

"Eyes? What drugs did they give you and are you sure they are legal?"

"No. I mean her eyes. Whatever she was. There was something about them..."

"A girl wants to drain you and you look deeply into her eyes. Is that the famous Celluci charm your grandpa always told everyone about in action?" Her remark was pointedly ignored save for a brief accusatory look from Mike.

"What exactly about her eyes?" Henry came closer, his full attention now focused on the problem. "Can you remember or do you want some help with that?"

"Oh, I remember alright. And if I didn't I wouldn't want to change the fact."

"If you want, I could give you a hand with that as well, as soon as you tell us what you meant about the eyes."

"I thought we already established that you are to stay out of my head, Fitzroy."

"If that's what you want. I won't insist. Now about what you meant..."

"I don't know what to tell you, really. I have the image before my eyes but..."

"Okay, Mike, focus. Was it anything like a vamped out vampire?" Vicki joined in with a question.

"No. I had enough time to get used to that one." Henry snorted, earning an annoyed look from the detective. "If anything, I could swear that for a moment they were glowing red."

"Glowing red? C'mon, Mike. I've seen that movie and the special effects weren't that great."

"I'm serious, Vicki. And you really aren't the one to talk seeing what your job profile looks like these days, not to mention having a Dracula-wannabe tagging along wherever you go."

"I assure you, Celluci, I have no wish to emulate Vlad Tepes. A fact you should be grateful for, given his approach to those who crossed him. I'd think you should be the first one to pray I don't change my mind on the matter."

Mike glared at the vampire but didn't say anything. Vicki decided it was up to her to make sure the digression didn't escalate.

"Anyway, Mike, is that all you can remember?"

"More or less. I'm not sure if it's even possible but there was something in that look... Complete insanity, as if she was on drugs or something."

"Oh, that's just great. Freakish vamp-like junkie with deprivation syndrome. This just about makes my week."

"Don't look at me. If it was up to me I wouldn't have anything to do with this stuff anyway. I didn't ask for it."

"I know you didn't, Mike." She sighed. "We should probably go now and see if we can deal with Kate somehow."

"Just..."

"I know, Mike, I told you, we'll see what we can do." She thought for a moment. "We should probably talk to her someplace private, seeing that we don't know how she may react. And neutral if possible."

"Thank you for being considerate enough to at least think of some privacy for dealing with the matter." The slight sarcastic note in Henry's voice was not lost to Vicki. "Do you think your office would be neutral enough?"

"It will have to do, I guess."

III

When they left Mike's room, Kate was nowhere in sight. Vicki noticed that Henry paused for a moment before going in one direction and she decided that he apparently knew where to go, so she followed.

"At least that's good news, right? Not only is Mike going to be fine but probably nobody tried to take over your territory." She spoke conversely.

"That's one way to look at it. A very optimistic way, but a way all the same." She got a quiet response.

"Ok, if that's optimistic, what's realistic then?"

"Noting that while nobody might be going directly against me, even if that's not yet proven in any way, and the facts are to the contrary, then my territory is still threatened. And if Celluci is right about the red eyes we could very well be dealing with a demon. Possibly even one targeting you, not myself, if we go by the choice of victims."

"I didn't know the girl. It might all be a coincidence. And wouldn't you be able to sense a demon off of Mike right now if that was true?"

"That may depend on the skill of the demon. Supposing it wasn't one, there is still a question of how close whatever she is resembles a vampire."

"If you are worried about vampires getting bad press then it can't possibly be worse than that first demon in Toronto. I mean, there is only one victim so far, right?"

"Is there, Vicki? We know Mike got away but we also know the creature was shot, multiple times. If her physiology is close enough to a vampire's one that she will need blood... even without being wounded she drained the girl. Can you imagine where that could lead now that she is?"

Vicki felt the blood leave her face, probably making her complexion match Henry's.

"We would have heard if something happened." She stated, having a strange feeling that she was actually trying to reassure herself.

"Would we? Even if the police already found more victims the only person within the force who would know the significance is unable to respond or inform us."

"Oh God."

"Yes, that would seem just about the right entity to seek help from at the moment. And right on time as well." He gestured to the hospital chapel door.

Vicki raised an eyebrow but quietly entered all the same, nearly colliding with Kate who was holding something firmly in one hand. The PI couldn't really tell what it was but her bet was on some devotional item the cop expected would protect her from vampires.

She chose not to disillusion the detective that the vampire currently in their company was probably the most religious of the people present. Instead she retreated to the corridor, giving the other woman opportunity to leave.

"Kate. We were just looking for you."

"How did you know I would be here?"

"Well, I asked myself what I would do if I saw a vampire and figured..." she let the statement hang, trying desperately to ignore a very quiet whisper of "You'd attack him and wake in his apartment some time later," that she suddenly heard in her ear. She mock-glared at Henry. Thankfully the cop seemed to still be in enough of a shock that she didn't notice anything. "Listen, Kate, now that we know Mike is gonna be alright what do you say we go to my office so you could tell us what exactly it was that you saw."

"I already told you."

"Well, yeah, but at that point I was concentrating a bit too much on the part about Mike being attacked to pay attention to any fine details. And if we want to catch that thing that got him, we should probably try to work something out."

"How can you expect to nail a vampire, Vicki?"

The PI glared at Henry whose expression already showed what kind of comment he was about to offer on the matter. When Kate looked away for a moment she mouthed a "don't you dare" at him.

"Well, you will have a unique opportunity to see how one combines the training from the academy with dealing with supernatural, all for free. What do you say, are you in?"

"You really do deal with the supernatural, don't you, Vicki? I half expected you took those cases just to prove to everybody that after leaving the force you did more than chase cheating spouses."

"One doesn't rule out the other. Remind me to tell you a story about an incubus sometime. But for now we need to be going." She turned to the vampire. "Henry, will you drive us? I don't think Kate is in any state to drive a car."

"I did drive here, you know." The detective protested.

"Suit yourself. But don't blame me if you total your car because of paying too little attention to the traffic."

"I won't."

"Alright then. Come on, let's go. We have a lot to discuss."

III

Vicki entered her office last and slammed the door behind her with satisfaction. Taking her frustration out on inanimate objects was hopelessly childish but very effective all the same when it came to venting.

She noticed that her action had gotten her attention and there was no point wasting the time.

"So, Kate, do you want something to drink? Coffee, tea, water?" On the other hand it wouldn't do to have the cop slip deeper into shock because of being dumped into the matter too abruptly.

"Alcohol?" the cop asked almost hopefully.

"Sorry, I need you sober or by tomorrow you'd convince yourself you never heard what you are about to hear and we'd have to go over it again."

"Coffee then."

"Okay." Vicki shook her electric kettle to check if there was enough water and turned it on. "Now then, on the phone you told me you thought you saw a vampire."

"I _did_ see a vampire. I know it's crazy but I was hoping that you of all people would believe me."

"Oh, I believe you. But there is a problem with that. According to what Mike says what you saw wasn't a vampire."

"Look, I know what I saw. I might not be an expert on supernatural stuff but I think I'd know a vampire when I saw one."

"Oh, really?" Given how serious the situation was Vicki felt she really shouldn't have such a hard time restraining a laugh. She glanced at Henry, catching his eye. "Your call."

He sighed and shook his head. For a moment she thought it might be his sign of refusal but in the end when he looked up he seemed ready to play along.

"Detective Lam," he spoke getting the cop's attention. "I'm afraid I may be forced to falsify that statement." The woman looked confused. "You have been in the presence of a vampire for some time now and you failed to notice that fact."

Before the detective could utter a question, his eyes darkened and his fangs elongated, earning a surprised cry from her. She took a step backwards.

"I'm not afraid of you." She stated shakily and very unconvincingly. She held, whatever it was in her hand, tighter.

"Good. If you were it might prove a considerable obstacle if we were to work on this together."

"I..." Suddenly she moved, uncorked what Vicki could now clearly see was a small bottle and threw the water it contained in Henry's general direction. A few drops might have reached him.

"I assume that was holy water?" He asked and when he received a shaky nod from the clearly distraught woman, he crossed himself, probably even increasing the detective's confusion.

"But..."

"I'm sorry to disappoint if you expected something more spectacular. And I wouldn't get your hopes up when it comes to the cross in your hand, seeing as wearing one never did me any harm."

Finally Vicki took pity on the other woman.

"Are you alright, Kate? I know it might be a lot to take in, especially under the circumstances."

"How... How can you be so calm about it? He just said..."

"Well, it helps a bit that I've known for some time now. As in practically for as long as I've known him."

"And he never hurt you?"

"Well, there was this one time when he asked me out only to have it later turn into..."

"Victoria, may I remind you that I'm still in the room." She heard his voice with a faint accusatory note.

"It's not like you don't know what you did." She looked back to Kate. "You think you can handle all this?"

"Handle what? That you are working with a vampire, while Mike was just... Wait. Does Mike know?"

"About Henry? Yeah. Though I'd appreciate if it took you less time to get used to the idea."

"Meaning?"

"You don't want to know. And I mean it."

"But still, he was attacked by another vampire." She paused. "How many vampires are there out there? Is it some conspiracy with a second world besides our human one?"

Vicki could distinctly hear Henry muttering something about cinematography brainwashing people before the vampire spoke louder.

"I certainly hope not, because I have no knowledge of any such thing. And to the best of my knowledge, assuming that Celluci is right and his attacker _wasn't _a vampire, I'm the only one of my kind in Toronto."

"Why?"

Vicki sighed, suddenly tired of Kate questioning Henry.

"Because I didn't get along with his ex and he kicked her out of town." She heard Henry snort. "_Now_ can we go back to the real matter at hand? As in catching whatever it was that attacked Mike and killed that girl?"

"Do we have any chance of doing that?"

"Can we afford thinking we don't?" Vicki countered immediately.

"In any case, we should start by trying to find out what are we dealing with here." Henry spoke before looking at Kate. "Can we count on your help, detective?"

Kate nodded, still visibly wary of him. "We need to catch a killer. It's still my job to do that. Whatever the killer is."

"I don't suppose I need to tell you that you are bound to secrecy when it comes to what you learned here?"

"Last time I checked stating that you saw a vampire resulted in suspension and an obligatory visit to a shrink. I'm in no hurry to put myself in that position."

"Good. Now, can you remember any details of what happened? Everything may count."

"Not really. That thing was very fast. I just saw it bite Mike and then escape when we opened fire. If it helps it smelled like walking gangrene."

"Descriptive." Vicki muttered. "Anything else?"

"Not really. I wasn't exactly eager to get a closer look." She sat heavily in the client's chair at Vicki's desk. "And I still don't know what I'm going to write in the report."

"What do you mean? Mike was attacked by a dog, right?" Vicki said stonefaced.

"A dog?" Confusion in Kate's voice was impossible to hide.

"Of course. She attacked Mike. As far as I'm concerned she's a right bi..."

"Victoria." Henry's voice didn't do much except bring a faint ironic smile to her face.

"And anyway, how many excuses could you give to explain bite marks?"

For a second Kate sat still, looking at the PI.

"Dog attack it is then. Do I even want to know how often Mike was in my position?"

"No. You really don't."

"Figures."

TBC

Reviews will be, of course, very appreciated


	11. Chapter XI

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter XI

When Kate awoke the next morning, she hoped desperately that the previous day was nothing but a nightmare which she had only now woken from. Pretending was made considerably easier by the fact that her last memory before going home was that of a vampire escorting her to her car. Which, of course was impossible because vampires didn't exist. Therefore she couldn't have really seen a vampire. And if she thought she did, she must have dreamt it. QED.

Just in case there was some hole in her logic she didn't check the date.

She managed to stay under that self-made illusion until she got to work. There, Crowley's demands to "know what the hell happened last night and if I don't get a report ASAP I'll..." shattered the bliss completely.

Or at least she thought so, assuming that things couldn't really get worse from that point.

"Lam, Graham, go to the Mt. Pleasant cemetery. The caretaker found bodies there."

"On it, boss."

Suddenly remembering some part of last night's conversation about the possibility of things escalating, she felt a dread at the mention of multiple bodies. That definitely didn't sound good. But it wasn't that she hadn't had multiple homicides to solve before or that any news about homicide ever sounded good.

She had a vague feeling that she was approaching paranoia.

"So the guy watches over the cemetery and only now noticed it was full of bodies? Talk about observant." She heard the voice of her stand-in partner as they were driving to the place.

"How about we go see it, Dave, before we decide if it's a joke material."

"Suit yourself. But if you take this kind of job too seriously you become a nutcase long before you retire."

"And if you treat it as never ending joke-fest people already think you're one."

Detective Graham was silent for a moment.

"I know you aren't really in the mood for jokes, Kate. How is Mike?"

"He's going to be fine, last time I checked. The whole thing will probably mostly earn him a few extra days of paid leave."

"So in the end it didn't turn out that bad."

"It sure didn't seem like it would when he was attacked."

"Yeah about that. Dog attacking just like that, and from your description attacking like one of those dogs trained to fight, what's that about? Was there someone who sent it after you?"

"Well, it was already dark so I couldn't really tell. And since we were investigating the case it's not against all reason that there was a human factor involved."

"Yeah, but all the blood missing? You think it was some ritual stuff? Maybe they had the dog attack the victim and then collected the blood for some sick occult reason."

"Well, that's one possibility." Was that how Mike felt all those times when she tried to talk to him about those cases? She would have to buy him lunch for the upcoming decade to make up for that. "But I guess we should now concentrate on that cemetery thing. Then we can look into the other one, even if I have to warn you that so far this case could be in the dictionary as the definition of a dead end."

"Well, now we'll have something to work with, at least. So let's get to work." They parked next to the cemetery and got out, to be immediately greeted by a man who could only be the caretaker.

III

The man was shaking as he led them to the scene. That in itself wasn't overly surprising. People rarely reacted well to finding bodies somewhere, graveyard job or not. However when they got to the place Kate started to think that the reaction was more than justified even if the man was by now indifferent to the sight of dead bodies.

"Whoa. I didn't know human intestines could run that long." She heard Dave's voice next to her as the black detective looked around. "Do you figure that's postmodernism in cemetery decoration?"

She ignored the morbid humour and turned to the bodies.

"Doesn't something look odd to you?"

"What do you mean? Three boys, stomachs ripped open, a couple of used needles, which I bet aren't a sign of something legal," he pointed with a gloved hand before realisation sunk in, "and... practically no signs of blood anywhere."

"My thoughts exactly." Kate agreed before the connection her mind made a while ago registered fully. When it did she closed her eyes for a second and wondered what she must have done in her previous life to deserve this.

"You don't think it's connected to your case, do you?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Dave."

"But then again, it makes sense, doesn't it? Local kids think a graveyard is the perfect place to get high. They offend someone. He sics his dog on them and the animal tastes the drugs and becomes aggressive. That would explain the unusual behaviour for a dog attack."

Kate stared at him wide eyed. He couldn't think... But then she was hardly in a position to argue when she had an explanation drop in her lap.

"I guess we have a theory. Now let's get to work."

III

When Henry awoke he instantly heard Vicki's heartbeat coming from the adjourning room. Unlike the previous times however, it was elevated, giving a testimony of fear. Within a second he was out of his bedroom only to find the PI sleeping restlessly on the sofa.

Breathing in relief he stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Instinctively he let persuasion enter his voice.

"**Calm down, Vicki. It's only a dream. It's safe. **_**You**_** are safe.**"

He didn't get to find out if he had any more luck with enticing sleeping Vicki than he had when she was awake, as in that moment, possibly as a reaction to his touch, she opened her eyes.

"Henry? What...?"

"You had a nightmare. Are you alright?"

She frowned.

"Yeah, I think so." She blinked. "I think I was still on the force but for some reason Coreen was working there as well. I was investigating those vampire-like killings and every time I thought I was getting closer we were finding more bodies. I think you were there too, but I didn't believe you were real because you looked like someone I saw in my history textbook. So you finally gave up. And just as I was going to find out who was behind it all I found Coreen and Mike... with a note pinned to them containing only symbols like my marks. Some dream, huh? It doesn't even make sense now that I told you."

"I think it does. It shows how much this case is costing you and how much stress you are under because of it."

"Thank you, Doctor Freud, for imparting yet another wisdom of the dreams theory."

"I will agree that one thing in your dream didn't make sense at all."

"Just one?"

"One was glaringly obvious. No matter what, I'd never give up on you or leave you."

"Thanks." The emotions caused by the dream faded a bit and she looked around as if only now she was fully aware of her surroundings. He smirked at the expression on her face when she finally focused on him. "By the way, you may want to dress yourself if we are to do anything tonight."

"Oh, I can think of at least one thing we could do that wouldn't require that."

"_Henry._"

He grinned at her.

"Are you sure you don't want to think about it?"

"Well, no matter what you think, we definitely don't have time for it now. Go get dressed. I'd like to go to my office for a moment. Preferably before midnight."

"So it's just a matter of having more time to spare? I'll hold you to that."

He disappeared in his bedroom before she had a chance to retort.

III

They were already in Henry's car when Vicki's cell sounded. After a moment of fumbling and stubbornly not admitting that it might actually be easier if she could see or asked Henry to give her a hand, she finally fished the phone out of her bag.

"Hey, Kate."

"Hi. Vicki, would you mind if I asked you to meet me in your office? I know it's late but I've only now finished here at the station."

"Late? Some of us have just woken up, you know. Believe it or not but it was easier for me to get used to working late than convince my partner to work days." She heard a soft chuckle next to her but ignored it, realising that her quip met a pause. "Kate?"

"Yeah. Perhaps if you remind me often enough, my mind will accept it at some point."

"You think vampires being real is a stretch? I seem to remember you mentioning once that Crowley may mellow down eventually."

"Anyway, will you be there?"

"In about half an hour."

"Thanks."

III

When they arrived at the office Kate was already there, leaning tiredly on the closed door, holding some files closely to her chest.

"Tough day?" Vicki asked opening the door.

"To say the least."

"So what is it?"

"More bloodless bodies." The detective handed her the files. "This is worse than the first time."

"Bodies as in plural?" Vicki was already turning on her desktop lamp to read.

"Three boys. Late teens, experimenting with drugs. And it happened in a cemetery of all places."

The PI looked at the photos of the faces forever set in a grimace of unspeakable horror.

"Apparently the attack was enough to break them out of their drug-induced state. She must have been furious to make them look like this."

"To be honest, I don't think I even want to know how furious. She was obviously worse than when I saw her. If it was her, that is. The girl's body wasn't mutilated like that."

"Do you know if it was done before or after they were drained of blood?"

"Not yet. Rajani said she would have a report for us tomorrow."

"Remember to ask her what she _really_ found out as well."

Kate stared at her for a moment. Before she said anything though, Henry leaned over Vicki's shoulder to take a look at the picture.

"After." He stated as if announcing the most obvious thing in the world.

"How do you know?" The female cop questioned immediately.

"Do you want a logical or an empirical answer?"

Vicki rolled her eyes.

"How about both and we'll later see which one was more useful?"

"Well then, as far as logic goes, the before is straight out as there would be considerably more blood on the scene. It would be impossible to clear it all no matter how one tried. Just because she drinks blood it doesn't mean she can make it magically disappear. As for _during_, she wouldn't need to bite the neck after ripping the abdominal artery, not to mention there would be more blood on the scene then as well, seeing as she wouldn't be able to contain it all in her mouth with a wound that size. As for empirical evidence, it's impossible to drain a dead body of blood completely. You have just a second before blood is undrinkable."

Kate, Vicki noticed, while she was able to calmly talk about the scene and bodies, now grew a little green.

"Thanks for the insight." The PI said, a touch sarcastically. "Now getting back to the topic, have you found any clues on the scene, Kate?"

"No. But I'm not sure how well Dave did seeing how he was looking for proof that we were dealing with a drugged dog."

"Drugged... Do you have their ETD?"

"I guess that's another thing we need to wait for in Rajani's report."

"Yeah, but Mike mentioned the thing looked like she was drugged. If the ETD was before you saw her..." Somehow it seemed a better option. Otherwise she would need to consider that those three might be the price of Mike escaping alive.

"No idea. But would drugs even affect her? I mean I'm not the expert of monsterology here."

"Teratology." Henry corrected with an amused smile.

Kate stared.

"There is actually a name for that?"

"There is now. But the names of sciences come from Greek so 'monster' had to go."

"Is he like that all the time?" Kate suddenly asked Vicki.

"Mostly. Why?"

"In that case I no longer blame you for keeping Mike as an escape route."

To Vicki's amazement Henry looked a bit hurt for a second. She doubted Kate even noticed that she managed to strike a chord though.

"Hey, it's nothing you can't get used to. But I'm leaving Mike only in good hands. Prove yourself and we may talk."

"While I'm sure Celluci would be simply thrilled to be treated like a mare at a market, may I remind you ladies that we have other things at hand here?"

Kate actually looked embarrassed a bit while Vicki only shrugged.

III

After Kate left they spent their time trying to somehow fit the new piece into the puzzle. Eventually they returned to Henry's apartment to look through his books. With no small amount of assuring that she was going to be alright and that they were pretty sure they weren't looking for a vampire, Vicki managed to convince Henry she would be alright if he left her there to raid his book collection while he went to feed.

It wasn't until after he left that she realised the drawback of her plan when it came to more interesting books, which had a lot to do with the time that passed since her basic Latin course in college.

III

She didn't notice him come back but suddenly became aware of his presence next to her as she was tiredly staring at yet another book.

"Found anything?" Up until now she had been positive that it was impossible for a voice to grin.

"Yeah. That at least when it comes to lingua latina, memoria mea fragilis est." There could be no mistake that he was grinning now.

"Well, with your current job profile you might want to consider brushing up on it." He graced her with that patented brilliant smile of his. "Need a hand?"

"Well, since you insist."

III

"I think I might have something."

Vicki looked up to see Henry leaning over some large tome.

"You do?"

"Indeed. I can't fathom how reading this before could have slipped my mind. I should have thought of it sooner."

"Think of what?"

"What do you know about Slavonic culture?"

"That reading 'Crime and Punishment' can sometimes help you while questioning a suspect. It gives you a view of a different mindset."

"Why am I not surprised? What would you say if I told you that what we're dealing with here might have to do with a creature known in Slavonic tradition?"

"Well, we've dealt with Babylonian what-not and Haitian voodoo. I can't say I would be overly surprised. So what is it?"

"Have you ever heard of a creature called the striga?"

Vicki thought for a moment.

"Isn't some kind of bird called strigis in Latin?"

"Strix. Brown owl." He supplied. "But I'm afraid the similarities end at the sound of the name and the habit of hunting nights."

He waited patiently for the muttering about people learning Latin since before they could walk showing off to stop. Finally Vicki took a deep breath and focused on him again.

"Great. So not an owl. What is it then?"

"A half demon. According to old Slavonic beliefs it sometimes happens that a child is born with two souls instead of one and if it is given only one name when baptised, the other soul is left unchristened and open to corruption by demons. If a demon corrupts the soul completely, the child dies which causes the other soul to leave the body. Then it grows in the grave until it reaches maturity. By then it turns into a half demon with two rows of teeth and blood-red nails."

"Sounds charming. But the child born with two souls thing doesn't make much sense."

"Doesn't it? It might be described in an _unscientific _manner but if we assume it describes the disappearing twin phenomenon then we will even have a medical basis."

"Okay, let's say, for argument's sake that it makes sense. How do we find the striga?"

"It not only grows in its grave. It also returns there every day. And given the location of all three attacks we can probably tell with a fair dose of certainty that we know where to look for it."

"So you are saying that what we need to do is go to the cemetery, see who is trying to get out of the grave and kill her?"

"Basically. It would probably help if we managed to put a silver coin in her mouth and bind her hands with a rosary. Supposedly it should keep her from ever rising again should beheading her prove insufficient."

"I thought beheading almost always worked, no matter what you're dealing with."

"As you said. Almost. When you deal with pure evil there are few things you can be absolutely certain of and this is no exception."

"Too bad nobody mentioned that to Robespierre, huh?"

"I doubt he would care either way. Until it was his turn."

Suddenly her thoughts wandered to an abstract thought and she chuckled.

"You know, if this was one of those really bad B horror movies, what you are planning would fit perfectly for a vampire hunter. Are you sure you have the right script?"

"If this was one of the bad B-movies, the fact that you are alone in a room with a vampire would mean that in about two seconds it wouldn't matter to you either way."

"Good point. So returning to the topic at hand, how are you planning to do that? That thing wakes probably about the same time you do. Even supposing she needs to get out of some grave or crypt, that doesn't give us too much time to zero in on her. And I certainly won't be able to wait long enough for you to arrive."

"You won't have to. I will find some place away from the sun as close to the cemetery as possible and will join you as soon as I wake. The real problem will be managing to find her in time given the size of the area we'll have to cover."

"Let's hope we will. I refuse to acknowledge any other possibility."

TBC

Reviews will be very appreciated.


	12. Chapter XII

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter XII

Vicki looked critically at the small basement room with window boarded up with plywood.

"How did you find it again? Most hideous places dot com?"

"I've seen worse, trust me. And the important thing is, it's closest to the cemetery and will serve the purpose."

She wrinkled her nose.

"I'd think you'd look for higher standards. Pardon the cliché, but I'm not sure it's even a full step up from sleeping in some crypt on the scene."

"Under the circumstances I rather think this will suffice, wouldn't you agree?"

"If you say so. It's your choice. So where do we meet?"

"How about here?"

"It will be faster if we meet on the spot. We'd be able to get on it sooner."

"But I won't risk not being fast enough to reach you in time."

"C'mon, with your speed you'll be able to get there a minute after sunset."

"And can you assure me in any way that will be enough time?"

"Then what if the thing escapes by the time we get there?"

"Hopefully it won't."

"Are you willing to risk the lives of potential victims like that?"

"I'm certainly less willing to risk yours. We'll get there in time."

She looked at him challengingly. "And you suddenly know that for sure, right?"

"Can you honestly tell me we can afford to think anything else?"

III

She sat on something that, with some good will, could be mercifully described as a chair, in the basement looking as Henry set up a camp bed. She almost commented a few times on various things, from the fact that he seemed to intend to sleep fully clothed to the fact that he didn't even seem to have taken a pillow but in the end she remained silent, scowling, to let him know she didn't think much of his logistical plans for the next evening.

He didn't speak to her either and after a while she felt her irritation growing just from the silence ringing in her ears. Which was fine by her, of course, if he didn't think her a suitable partner to talk with she wasn't about to lower herself to...

"Are you planning on calming down tonight, Victoria?"

"What?" The question suddenly breaking the silence caught her off guard.

"Calming down. Are you planning to? I was hoping to wait until you did, but you seem to be just working yourself up."

"Anybody ever told you that reading somebody's emotions is an invasion of privacy?"

"I assume the answer is no, then?"

"I don't care how you were brought up, I don't react well to being patronised. Or bossed around."

"So I guess it's a good thing I don't do either and have no plans of starting, isn't it?"

"Oh, you don't? Then what would you call what you were doing?"

"Discussing something with you. Being concerned about a person I care for very much."

"Is that what they call it these days?"

"Hopefully. Because it is what they have called it for nearly five centuries and I'm afraid I've gotten used to the meaning."

"Oh, so women's rights just slipped your notice and you want everything to be stuck in the middle ages, is that right?"

He actually laughed at that, earning him a glare.

"I know you're more competent than that when it comes to history, Vicki, so don't pretend you aren't. And after seeing two of my sisters crowned as rulers of England you might say I'm not exactly a novice when it comes to the matter of women's rights."

She opened her mouth to retort and for some reason the answer evaporated from her mind. She saw him smile. Realising how she must look she closed her mouth quickly.

"Have you calmed down now?"

"Define calm."

"Are you back to your usual self then? We can't expect a miracle after all."

She narrowed her eyes.

"One more word and I'm taking that board from the window to watch the sunrise."

"Ah, so you_ are_ back to your usual self. Good to know."

She idly wondered how many years he spent on fine-tuning the skill of being infuriating. He was decidedly too good at it to let her write it off as a natural talent.

"Henry, I'm warning you..."

In an instant he was holding her in his arms. She hadn't even have time to blink.

"Much as I'd love to continue this discussion, Vicki, I'm afraid the sun is very close. Have a good day." And with that as her only warning he suddenly kissed her.

Vicki felt her traitorous body weaken, leaning against his and for some reason, that had absolutely nothing to do with conscious decision, she found herself returning the kiss. Just as she was preparing herself mentally to break off, letting him know just what she thought of it all, she discovered he suddenly wasn't next to her anymore, but instead he was settling on his bed.

His eyes met hers. "Until tomorrow evening, Victoria. Please, wait for me here."

Before his quiet words had time to register properly, he lay down and with a soft sigh surrendered to vampire sleep.

"How typical." Vicki found herself muttering, not particularly sure to what she was referring exactly but still feeling the words, together with rolling her eyes, were very satisfying.

III

Having an hour till sunset she hesitated for a moment. A part of her, a part she was intimately familiar with, was insisting that she should go to the cemetery.

After all, Henry already knew her well enough to know she wouldn't really listen. He would just meet her there, saving them time and letting them start searching earlier. Extra points for showing him what exactly she thought of being ordered around like that.

All in all, reasonable decision allowing her to reaffirm her independence.

Which was why she was finding it rather surprising that she was having second thoughts about it. The look in Henry's eyes as he asked her to meet him in his stinky basement of a hideout was haunting her, replaying before her eyes proportionally to the firmness of her decision not to meet him.

But she was not about to turn into a pushover just because some guy had more time to practice his puppy-dog eyes than most and was, she had to give him that, a good kisser. Still it wasn't like it was even a valid argument in a discussion. He was just trying to force her to do something she didn't want to do. And that was something she wouldn't have.

III

Henry awoke to the unpleasant surroundings along with the almost painfully bright glare of a light bulb. And Vicki's heartbeat nearby.

"About time. Now get up. As much as I love the place we have a meeting with a striga to look forward to."

"Good evening to you too, Victoria. Thank you for waiting for me."

"If you think it was because of your pathetic arguments you have another thing coming. I just decided to save the batteries in my flashlight for later this evening."

"Of course you did." He smiled, wrapping one arm around her. "Still, thank you."

III

They entered the cemetery and despite being with Henry Vicki suddenly felt very exposed facing the darkness that surrounded her with a monster probably lurking around somewhere, when she had nothing but her flashlight to keep the cloak of blackness away. Subconsciously she stepped closer to the vampire and, upon realising what she did, she felt ready to kick herself. She suddenly _wished_ for something to happen if only to take her mind off her show of weakness.

She looked at Henry.

"Hear anything?" She asked in a whisper.

"Not yet. But it _is_ a considerable area."

"Think that thing even has a heartbeat?"

"She's supposedly half demon. Anything is possible. But even if she doesn't, I hope she isn't capable of getting out of her grave soundlessly."

"Now that's comforting." She replied sarcastically.

For a moment they proceeded in silence. Finally Vicki broke it again.

"This is getting us nowhere. Listen, this thing drinks blood, right? Do you think she can smell it as well as you can?"

"I'd say it's very probable, given that strigas seem to operate on instinct mostly and blood is one of their most basic needs."

Vicki stopped walking and took a deep breath wondering how smart her intended next move was.

"Bite me." She told him firmly, making the final decision.

"Vicki?"

"We have no chance of finding her like this. And if she smells my blood she may spare us the searching and come looking for us instead. The air is clear so the smell should carry well."

"You seem to forget that your plan has a minor drawback of having me distracted at the time she might get here."

"Well, don't let yourself get distracted."

"While tasting your blood? That's impossible."

"You'd better try hard then."

"We don't have to do this at all. We have another way."

"Oh yeah, we come here night after night checking each sector of the cemetery while she gets to bleed out more victims. Not my style of action, to be honest."

Vicki looked firmly in his general direction, not wanting to blind him with her flashlight and hoping that she could win a staring contest without seeing the eyes of her opponent. Finally she heard him sigh.

"Give me your hand." He said finally. "And pray that I'll notice her in time and that what I am about to do won't bring your demise."

She pushed up her sleeve and let her hand find his. "Ever the optimist, aren't you?"

The PI felt Henry bring her forearm to his lips and she wondered exactly why some traitorous part of her mind chose that precise moment to create the thought that she would much rather have those lips somewhere more interesting. She stomped that thought almost immediately but it didn't stop some of its echoes from roaming through her mind.

Vicki felt a soft kiss on her forearm that was soon followed by a sting of pain and quickly growing warmth that spread from her hand to the rest of her body, making her suddenly lightheaded and feeling as if she was floating in the air. Sensations of her surroundings faded somehow into the furthest corner of the background as a wave of electricity was surging through her body...

An unearthly shriek that brought her to reality was a rude awakening. Suddenly Henry was away from her, with her forearm aching after his hasty removal of his fangs. She thought she felt a sticky wet line travel from the aching spot downwards and she suddenly understood that the wound must not have been closed.

The shriek sounded again, much closer, a few steps from her. Her sense of smell was assaulted by something that suddenly made Kate's 'gangrene' description very fitting. This time unable to stop herself, no matter how compromising to her 'courage under fire' persona it would be, she directed the stream of light in that direction. When she did, for a second everything became absolutely still as she stared into red eyes with madness flaring in them and at the face grotesquely disfigured in a grimace.

The second passed and suddenly the striga lunged in her direction with another cry. Metal glistened in the light almost blindingly, like lightning cutting through the air. Suddenly it was quiet. Deadly quiet. The head of the creature, separated from the rest of the body by Henry's sword, fell to the ground, followed a split second later by the body.

She shifted the light to see Henry kneeling down to clean his sword. Suddenly she thought that he never looked more like a knight than in that very moment.

As her light caught his attention he looked up at her, shielding his eyes from the brightness with his raised hand. Then he got up, sheathed the sword and stepped to her again. He took her hand and gently traced the line of blood with his lips before closing the wound.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you Vicki."

"_Had_ you hurt me, you'd be _more_ than sorry, trust me." She quipped almost automatically, trying not to think about the sensations his action awoke in her body. "I guess she didn't need any drugs to look completely crazy after all."

"It's over now, Vicki. We may need to get her back to her resting place so we don't bring attention to this, but the danger is over."

"Yeah, it is." She agreed quietly. Then she smirked. "I must I agree with Rosen though. I can definitely see a resemblance."

"_Vicki_."

TBC

Reviews will be, of course, appreciated.


	13. Chapter XIII

Disclaimer: As far as the author of the following work is concerned writing fanfiction includes inherent admission that all the rights to the intellectual property of the work the fanfiction is based on belong to parties other then the fanfiction creator. The author therefore has no claim as to the ownership of any recognisable characters, locations or situations that might have been mentioned in the story.

Summary: Usually when your assistant is having heart problems, you worry about people being at each other's throat and you suspect your partner's ex would like to kill you, you don't mean that literally. Unless, of course, your name is Vicki Nelson. Sequel to That Thin Line.

Special thank you goes to my beta Marlana. For all her help and not giving up after facing a story this size.

Heartfelt Friendships

Chapter XIII

"_I should hate myself for these irrational ideas,  
I should pull myself together,  
Cast away my fears."_

_Mina, 'A Perfect Life',_  
'_Dracula, the musical'  
by Frank Wildhorn, Don Black_

Kate knocked on Mike's door and waited. She suspected it wasn't very likely for him to be out _now_ so the lack of response was starting to worry her. She knocked again. This time he answered the door. He looked tired.

"Hey, Kate."

"Hey. I wanted to come when they were releasing you but Crowley was on our backs all day and I only now managed to get free."

"Good for you. But trust me, after having nothing to do all day aside from catching reruns of God-knows-what, I'd gladly switch with you any time."

"Not if you had my case, you wouldn't."

"What's the case?"

"Three high teens eviscerated in a cemetery."

"Sounds like a good setup for a horror movie."

"If this is a horror movie, I'm probably playing for the wrong team. A vampire helped me interpret some of the crime scene photos last night." She noticed he stilled at that. "What? They told me you knew. You do know, don't you?"

"About Fitzroy? Yeah. But... you remember about vampires?" He actually looked surprised.

"You know, I can't say such things happen to me often so maybe that's why, but if somebody proves to me that vampires exist, it's not something that just slips my mind by the next day." He kept staring. "What? How did you react? Gone into denial and forgot every time they told you?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what? They wouldn't tell me, even if Vicki mentioned that you didn't take it well."

"And perhaps we should leave it at that."

Suddenly he looked very uncomfortable and she decided that letting the topic go for now might be the best strategy.

"If you say so."

"Thanks. How about I make us some coffee and we sit down and talk?"

"Sure, but should you be drinking coffee now?"

"Didn't hurt me last time so I very much doubt it will do anything now."

Kate blinked. "Last time? What last time?"

"Never mind. You really don't want to know."

"If you tell me there was a last time for _that_? Yeah, I think I _do _want to know."

"You may think so but you don't." He avoided her gaze.

"Was that the vampire? Vicki's partner?"

Mike looked... ashamed? That had her confused all of a sudden but she didn't make detective by letting go of things easily. Especially when she felt she had something.

"Why don't you just forget about it, Kate? For the good of everyone?"

"Did he attack you? What happened?"

"Nothing."

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

"Kate, I'm tired and really not in the mood for this discussion."

"Fine. I'll just confront _him _then, saying that you told me he attacked you and I want to know why he was pretending not to mean any harm."

"No! Don't even think about it!" Mike looked close to panic. "Listen, Kate, what happened did happen and it is between the two of us, alright?"

"I wouldn't say that. If he attacked you..."

"Look, let's just say that he wasn't entirely at blame there, okay?"

For a long moment she just looked at him. He looked ashamed and guilty and didn't seem eager to look her in the eyes.

"What did you do, Mike?"

"As I said, that's something to tell only on need-to-know basis and you not only don't need but also don't want to know. Let's just say I'm not planning to ever do it again."

"C'mon it's not like you assaulted him with a stake for stealing your girlfriend, right?" She looked at him and did a quick assessment of all the emotions playing on his face. "You know what, maybe you're right. I don't think I want to know all that much." She sighed. "Do I get that coffee or not?"

III

Sitting down and talking turned out to be less awkward than could be expected from the way they started out. Kate proved to be refreshingly pleasant company after the day of boredom interspersed with short calls making him sound like a poor helpless creature hardly capable of breathing on his own (Mike once again swore to himself to get even with his sister for calling half of the family to tell them about his 'accident'). Being treated normally for once was a very pleasant change.

Once again he looked at Kate, marvelling just how much Vicki had her vampire wrapped around her finger if despite his previous declarations the female cop not only had an unmodified memory but also knowledge of Fitzroy's true nature.

"Mike, are you listening to me?" He registered an accusatory voice.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a minute. I was just thinking it was good not to have to hide anything from you anymore."

"You know what's funny? All that time I thought that what you were trying to hide most was how much you were helping Vicki, even during the work time."

"Would you believe that it was sometimes the other way round?"

"Meaning what? Vicki helping us?"

"Exactly."

"When?"

"Oh, I don't know. Remember that murder we accused Felicia Bannock of?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Committed by werejaguar."

"There are werejaguars?"

"Apparently. And the deaths of those well-to-do women murdered in their beds in their husbands' absence?"

"Yeah?"

"A fury. Jealousy demon." He had to hold back a smile at the look she sent him. "Those deaths when the Aztec mummy was stolen?"

"Don't tell me..."

"Yeah. The mummy did it."

"And it was like that all the time?"

"Most of it. But sometimes Vicki gets just normal cases. And I can do my own job while staying sane."

"Just promise me something."

"What is it?"

"The next time we stumble on something like that we're covering for each other.'

"For each other? So you want in?"

"Are you kidding? I'm not letting you work on that all alone. I'm your partner."

"The best partner."

"Thanks. But we both know you hold that spot for Vicki."

"Well, she's not my partner anymore. You are."

Kate's cell rang. She glanced at it.

"Speak of the devil." She turned the phone on speaker. "Hi, Vicki."

"Hey, Kate. Can you talk?"

"That depends. I'm at Mike's and he can hear you too. So if you're calling to give me some dirt on him you may want to wait for a better time."

"Okay, I'll scratch that from the list then and move right to the next point."

"Thanks a lot, Vic." Mike couldn't help himself.

"Anytime, Mike. You both may want to know that we've dealt with the striga."

"What striga?"

"The one you met recently. But if you know of any other one in Toronto let me know."

"So that thing was a striga?"

"Wasn't that what I just said? If you were hoping for a second date though, I'm afraid you need to make other plans. She won't have a head for that sort of thing now. Literally."

"I'm suddenly recalling why you were always the last person anybody asked to pass the bad news to the family."

"Aw, so you miss her already? Kate, do you think you could cheer the poor boy up?"

Mike's partner snorted. "The way he looks now, you are very close to the point of making drowning you in a glass of water the only thing capable of cheering him up."

"So he's in good mood already? Must be your presence."

"Could you please shut the hell up, Vic?"

"Since you ask so nicely. Glad you are back home, by the way."

"Thanks."

"Anytime. Now I think I've interrupted your evening for two enough. Bye, Kate, Mike."

"Bye, Vic." Mike replied resignedly while Kate said something along the same lines and turned off the phone. She looked at him.

"Evening for two, huh? Have you been telling Vicki something about me that I don't know about?"

"Kate, I have absolutely no clue where she got that idea."

"You know what? You almost sounded guilty."

III

"Called Kate and Celluci?" Henry asked as he finished covering trail of their presence at the cemetery.

"No need to. With my impeccable timing I managed to interrupt their date so one call sufficed."

"I see. I would propose we follow their lead and celebrate our victory but I'm afraid we'll need to stop at my apartment first so I can get into more presentable attire." He gestured at the dirty and partially torn clothes.

She looked at him critically. "Not that I haven't seen people wearing worse but I must admit it doesn't suit you. So your place first it is."

"Thank you." He wrapped one arm around her waist as they made their way to his car.

III

Henry's apartment proved to be a deceptively welcoming place compared to the dark, chilly and windy outside world. Vicki sighed settling on the sofa as Henry disappeared into his bedroom, promising not to take long.

She heard water running and resigned herself to the fact that it may be longer than she expected as he apparently decided that a change of clothes wasn't enough. Busying herself with brutally annihilating images that suddenly formed in her head at hearing his shower, she noted, very self consciously, that she didn't really look very presentable either. Or more accurately, her current state made her question how Henry could look her way without a grimace.

The water stopped running and a minute later the vampire emerged from his bathroom, with his hair still glistening with water.

"Is something the matter, Vicki?"

"Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"You don't look very celebratory at the moment."

"It's nothing. Remove all the mirrors from here and don't look my way and everything will be fine."

He chuckled.

"Removal of the mirrors is something I could do, but not looking at you is impossible, I'm afraid."

"Why didn't you tell me how awful I looked after this evening?"

"Because you don't. Your clothes got perhaps a bit dirty in some places but I'm not concentrating on clothes when I'm looking at you anyway."

She looked up and saw a warm look in his eyes that came suspiciously close to making her melt. Then she shifted her sight to the impenetrable darkness outside his window. She was fighting the thought that suddenly appeared in her mind but the momentary distraction of looking back at Henry was enough for the thought to escape from her traitorous lips.

"Tell you what. If you let me use your shower, lend me something to wear and order something to eat for me, we could both have a dinner here and celebrate without going anywhere."

She had a strange feeling that she paled when she realised her thought was voiced. She could see she caught Henry by surprise and opened her mouth to take it back, somehow. Her mind was blank and she was rapidly approaching panic, unable to find a way out of the situation.

She noticed Henry smiled. She was trying to figure out if she should take that as a good sign.

"Of course, if you wish. You can go straight to the bathroom, I'll leave you something to wear on my bed. And I seem to recall you never used that long bath you were once promised, so you don't have to limit yourself to the shower."

She blinked.

"Yeah. It does seem a bit like déjà vu, doesn't it?"

"Perhaps it does." He suddenly grinned at her. "Only you are feeling better and we have much more time till dawn."

"Haven't you heard of the no innuendoes until the girl has eaten something rule?"

"No, to be honest. When did you make that up?"

She sent him a dirty look.

III

Ever since she could remember, a shower was a great way of forgetting for a moment all the stress that piled up during the day. Now that she added to that being surrounded by scents so typical for Henry, she felt almost as if she was melting each time the hot water touched her skin.

Finally she decided she had enough and locking yourself for hours in somebody else's bathroom wasn't right even by her not overly sophisticated standards. Wrapped in a towel she quickly went to get the clothes Henry left for her.

When she entered his living room again she was assaulted by the smell of food. The coffee table next to the sofa was now occupied by a white plate, a glass of what she could only assume to be wine, a couple of plates of food and, oddly enough considering the full illumination of the room, a lit candle.

"Went all out, did you?"

He grinned. "I cannot imagine what you mean, my lady."

"I'm sure you don't." She sat on the sofa. "Italian?"

"Since you felt nostalgic already."

"Uh huh. Looks good though."

"I'm glad."

She took a fork and did a double take when it turned out to be much heavier than expected. Not really ready to blame her sudden weakness on spending too much time in a hot shower she looked at the vampire questioningly. He smiled in reply.

"I have no use for every day cutlery, Vicki, you must realise that. And even when I did I wouldn't go below this standard."

Wondering what he meant she glared briefly at the fork before the dots connected. Suddenly she looked at the item with newfound respect.

"How come I never noticed before?" She wondered only after a second realising that she spoke aloud.

"I would blame your insistence on ordering Chinese that came with chopsticks."

"It wouldn't be Chinese if it didn't." She took a bite of one of the dishes. "This is good."

"Only the best for you, Victoria." He smiled and she rolled her eyes.

III

Once she ate, Vicki really couldn't find it in herself to move. She was content where she was with Henry sitting next to her.

Giving in to an impulse she rested her head on his arm.

"I have promised you a dinner." She stated conversationally.

"You did. But if you don't want to..."

"Who said I didn't? But if you want to feed you'd better do that before I fall asleep. How strong was that wine you gave me anyway?"

"I'd say it was standard for a French wine. Maybe you are simply tired?"

"I'm not..." She did her best to stifle a yawn.

"So I see. Maybe if you took a short nap you'd feel better?"

"That wasn't the plan."

"But it's our plan so we are entitled to change it. Why don't you lie down for a moment and I'll use the time to clear the table?"

Hearing in reply something that wasn't much more than an organised form of muttering he lifted her up, carried her to his bedroom and gently placed her on his bed.

"Just rest for a moment, Victoria."

Change of surroundings, as well as suddenly finding herself in Henry's bedroom worked to bring Vicki back to full consciousness.

"I don't really need rest. And I still owe you a dinner."

"That's the second time you brought that up."

"Apparently I don't want you to go hungry. And after that dinner you served me it would only be fair to return the favour." She sent him a smile and received his in response.

"If I feed from you, will you promise you'll consider resting?"

"I'll _consider _it."

Henry smiled at her again, with eyes shining as he looked at her. Vicki felt her still moist hair swept from her neck as he held her closer. A moment later she felt as if she was floating, surrounded by peculiar waves of their emotions intertwined.

Suddenly nothing in the world mattered more than staying like that forever. Staying close to him.

When, all too soon, he stopped drinking and tried to move away, she held him close and kissed him, pulling him with her as she sank onto the bed.

III

He returned her kiss and the passion, but after a while made a move to separate himself from her. She made an indecipherable sound of protest.

"Vicki..." He started, finding her reaching for him again.

"Henry, please..."

"Victoria, try to understand how close you are, we are to going beyond the point of no return. I'd rather be sure you've made that decision consciously and not just gotten carried away by the moment."

He saw her hands trembled slightly. She frowned and Henry mentally counted the minutes before she retreated as fast as she could without looking back.

"Are you telling me I'd be sorry later if we continue?" She teased and he was torn away from his thoughts for a moment.

"I'd do my best to ensure you wouldn't be, you know that. But..."

"Then do so." She whispered and captured his lips in a kiss again. As far as he was concerned this was conscious enough for a decision.

III

It was official. Vicki had lost her mind. Or at least she could see no other explanation for why suddenly not only her words and her body were doing the almost exact opposite of what she knew they should be doing but her thoughts weren't helping either, muting the desperate cries of her rational mind.

She knew she shouldn't be doing this. At least she was pretty sure she knew. And she was equally certain that she would be sorry later. It was a pity, really, that her body didn't take time to read the memo.

Her thoughts were in disarray, making the process of thinking increasingly harder. Henry's presence and touch seemed to be everywhere and her head was swirling. She felt another kiss and her rational mind took a leave of absence muttering darkly about being ignored anyway.

She shuddered as Henry's shirt suddenly was no longer giving her warmth and heard words whispered into her ear.

"_When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall,  
__And she me caught in her arms long and small,  
__And therewith all sweetly did me kiss  
And softly said, 'Dear heart, how like you this?'_"

She had a distinct notion he was quoting, even if with Henry one could never be completely sure. Still, she thought she might recognise the words... or some similar words at least. But her thoughts were in no state to ponder this.

Then, with a sudden swirl all her thoughts blended together and suddenly there was nothing but passion.

III

She laid her head on his chest, still feeling detached from reality, listening to the unbelievably slow heartbeat. The sarcastic part of her mind that suddenly decided to valiantly prove it still existed, offered a completely abstract thought that at least one thing was for sure when it came to finding things wanting in this perfect romance – there was no way their hearts could ever beat in the same rhythm.

Then the thought died, fearful of the deeper meaning it carried. And somehow Vicki could not stop herself from viewing the conclusion that came to her, as something between epiphany and realising that the piece of the puzzle she had been looking for, she had been holding in her hands all along.

"Henry?" She mumbled sleepily trying to force her eyes, mind over matter, not to close.

"Yes?"

"I love you, you know." She wanted to add something more but she was suddenly too tired to continue.

After all it wasn't like she couldn't continue the conversation later...

III

She woke up with a feeling that she had been sleeping for hours. She located her watch and with the press of a button made the time appear, glowing in the dark. It was almost sunset. Which meant that it wouldn't be long until Henry...

Henry.

She sat up, as the events of last night suddenly assaulted her when her memory caught up with her. Her eyes grew wider.

"Oh, God." She moaned desperately trying not to do something stupid. Like hyperventilating or going to shoot herself. Her throat tightened and she forced herself to swallow. "What have I..."

'Done' never left her lips as the sun must have sunk over the horizon and she heard the vampire wake next to her.

III

She sat in the bed and stared at her hands.

"I've always hated the story of Beauty and the Beast, you know." She said quietly.

"Have you?" He carefully made his tone impassive and schooled his face so it would not betray his emotions.

"Yeah. It just always seemed so unfair for the girl."

There it was, Henry thought, his heart tightening painfully. It took her a while but she finally came to her senses and saw a relationship with a vampire the only way a human possessing a modicum of instinct could. He had been foolish to let himself believe this could end differently. The only question that remained was if he should show her he got the message or let his desperate hope hold him until she told him outright.

"Still, the beauty made a conscious choice." He voiced not knowing himself why he bothered to fight a battle he could not win and continued on the topic.

"But that's just it. She was cheated out of it." She still didn't look at him. "She learnt to love him for who he was and the moment she told him, it stopped mattering anyway and he reverted to the prince he was before he was cursed. And sure, maybe he even cared for her for a while afterwards. But then he was bound to grow bored and fall back to his old habits, take lovers, mistresses, whatever. And she was left with the knowledge that the man she fell in love with was no more." She sighed. "That's when I first decided I would never tell a man I loved him. Not when I really mean it. I was five, my father just left and I heard the story. And I was abiding by the decision. Until yesterday."

She couldn't be saying... Suddenly Henry felt his head spin as he went from convinced that she was backing out of their relationship to awareness of the true meaning of her declaration. Slowly, as if he was afraid to scare her away, he moved closer and embraced her.

"Don't worry." He whispered. "I'm not changing back to the prince I was. And even if I wanted to, I'm fairly sure it's impossible, so I'm afraid that whether you like it or not, you are stuck with the beast."

He felt her stiffen for a second before she leaned into his embrace.

"You promise?"

"I think I can safely give you my word on that." He smiled lightly at her.

"Good. I wouldn't want it any other way." She turned to face him. "And Henry... By the way. I love you." She whispered the words but there wasn't any hesitation in them. Neither was there any in the kiss she initiated afterwards.

THE END

Reviews will be very appreciated.


End file.
